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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Small Interfering RNA Decreases VEGF mRNA Expression and Proliferation of Colorectal Cancer Cells

Ward, Stephen 15 November 2006 (has links)
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) was first described in 1989 for its angiogenic and mitogenic properties. Early studies indicated that VEGF-A acts primarily in a paracrine pathway which is limited to vascular endothelium. Further investigation showed that VEGF-A and VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) are expressed by many solid tumors and improve cell growth and survival. Therefore, VEGF-A may act via an autocrine pathway that effects tumor cellular proliferation by binding VEGFR-2 at the cell surface. This study utilizes small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology to investigate the presence of an autocrine loop in human RKO colorectal cancer cells. RT-PCR demonstrated the expression of VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-D, placental growth factor (PlGF), VEGFR-2, neuropilin-1 (NP-1) and neuropilin-2 (NP-2) in vitro by RKO cells. Transfection with siRNA against VEGF-A resulted in a 94% knockdown of VEGF-A expression by ELISA. Northern blot, quantitative real time PCR and semiquantitative RT-PCR confirmed the knockdown data. In addition, transfected RKO cells showed a 67% decrease in cellular proliferation by WST-1 assay. This data correlated to the ELISA results. In summary, the presence of VEGF-A and VEGFR-2 argues in favor of an autocrine loop in human colorectal cancer cells. siRNA targeting of VEGF-A remains a promising anti-tumor therapeutic strategy.

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