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The molecular mechanism responsible for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development remains to be defined although a number of gene pathways have been shown to play an active role, such as Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. In this study, beta-catenin small interfering RNA (siRNA) was designed, synthesized, and transfected into HCC HepG2 cells. RT-PCR and western blot assays were performed to detect expression of altered genes and proteins, and the MTT assay was used to detect cell viability. Our data showed that beta-catenin mRNA and protein expression levels were effectively knocked down by beta-catenin siRNA and subsequently, tumor cell proliferation was significantly suppressed. Flow cytometry assay showed that tumor cells were arrested at the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycles. Molecularly, expression of Smad3, p-caspase-3, and Grp78 protein were upregulated after 72 h of beta-catenin siRNA transfection, whereas expression of TERT, caspase-3, XIAP, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF-A, VEGF-c, and bFGF protein were reduced. However, there was no change between the expression of STAT3 and the HSP27 protein following transfection. The results from the current study demonstrated the importance of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway in regulation of gene expression in HCC. Further studies are required to investigate the role of this pathway in HCC development and targeting of this pathway to control HCC.

β-catenin siRNA regulation of apoptosis- and angiogenesis-related gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma cells: potential uses for gene therapy