siRNA-mediated silencing of translationally controlled tumor protein induces apoptosis and inhibits cell growth

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is an evolutionally highly conserved protein which has been implicated in many cellular functions that are related to cell growth, death and tumorigenesis. We used a DNA vector-based RNA interference approach by expressing shRNA to knockdown TCTP in MCF7 cells for evaluating its antitumor effect and its molecular mechanism. TCTP shRNA treatment MCF7 cells suppressed cell growth and proliferation. In addition, cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death were observed from TCTP shRNA-treated MCF7 cells. Myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL-1) was identified to be related with TCTP in cell growth and apoptosis cell death. These results suggested that vector-based TCTP RNA interference could be an efficient molecular therapeutic method to kill MCF7 cells, and TCTP played pivotal roles in cell growth and apoptosis cell death.