Abstract:
Objective To prepare a novel antisense oligonucleotides (ASON) probe, namely, 99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON (hydrazine nicotinamide (HYNIC)), targeting long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) homeobox gene anti-sense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR); and explore its effect on the proliferation and migration of human glioma U87 cells.
Methods HOTAIR ASON was designed and synthesized by chemical modification, and the bifunctional chelating agent (HYNIC) was coupled with 99Tcm. Sephadex G25 was selected for separation and purification. The labeling rate, radiochemical purity, in vitro stability, and integrity of the probe were detected by instant thin-layer chromatography and agarose gel electrophoresis. Human glioma U87 cells were cultured for experimental use. The cell uptake assay was divided into two groups: Lipo-99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON (transfection group) and 99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON (non-transfection group). The probe was transfected by liposome to determine the probe uptake rate of human glioma U87 tumor cells. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and cell scratch assay were divided into three groups, namely, Lipo-99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON (transfection group), 99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON (non-transfection group), and 99Tcm-Control (control group), to detect the changes of cell proliferation and migration after transfection of probe. Student t-test was used for comparison between two groups, and one-way analysis of variance was used for multi-group comparison.
Results The labeling rate of 99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON was (90.0±5.6)%. Gel electrophoresis results confirmed that 99Tcm and the probe were successfully labeled without evident degradation; the probe showed good stability and radiochemical purity >80% after being incubated for 12 h. The results of cell uptake assay showed that 5 h after liposome transfection, the maximum uptake rate of probe Lipo-99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON in human glioma U87 cells was 0.70%, which was significantly higher than that in the non-transfection group (0.16%; t=17.81, P<0.01). The results of CCK-8 assay showed that the transfection probe (Lipo-99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON) could inhibit the proliferation of human glioma U87 cells, and a significant difference was observed compared with the non-transfection group at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 d (t=2.336–30.230, all P<0.05). The results of cell scratch assay showed that the transfection probe (Lipo-99Tcm-HYNIC-ASON) could inhibit the migration of human glioma U87 cells, and a significant difference was found in the intercellular fusion rate among the three groups (F=331.8, P<0.01). Compared with the non-transfection group (60.0%), the intercellular fusion rate in the transfection group was significantly lower (23.6%), and the difference was statistically significant (t=51.54, P<0.01).
Conclusions The ASON probe targeting human glioma lncRNA HOTAIR has been successfully synthesized. The probe has good stability and targeted binding ability in vitro, which can inhibit the proliferation and migration of human glioma U87 cells.