shRNA‑mediated knockdown of KNTC1 suppresses cell viability and induces apoptosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Kinetochore-associated proteins are critical components of mitotic checkpoints, which are essential for faithful chromosomal segregation and spindle assembly during cell division. Recent advances have demonstrated that kinetochore-associated proteins are upregulated and serve significant roles in the carcinogenesis of numerous types of cancer. However, the effects of kinetochore-associated protein 1 (KNTC1) on human cancer, particularly on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), remain unclear. The present study revealed that KNTC1 was highly expressed in ESCC cell lines. Subsequently, lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNAs were used to knockdown KNTC1 expression in human ESCC cell lines. Cell growth and viability were measured using multiparametric high-content screening and the MTT assay, respectively. Cell apoptosis was assessed by staining cells with Annexin V-allophycocyanin and was detected using FACScan flow cytometry. The results demonstrated that knockdown of KNTC1 effectively inhibited cell viability and increased apoptosis. In addition, a gene set enrichment analysis of online ESCC datasets indicated that KNTC1 overexpression was associated with increases in the mitotic spindle and hypoxia pathways, and decreases in the DNA repair and mismatch repair pathways. The findings of the present study suggested that KNTC1 may have an essential role in mediating cell viability and apoptosis in human ESCC cells and may serve as a novel therapeutic target for ESCC.

Whole‐genome analysis identifying candidate genes of altitude adaptive ecological thresholds in yak populations

“…Six genes (SH2D5, KIAA0825, LSAMP, KLHL29, PHLDB1 and KNTC1) were not annotated in any known GO term and KEGG functional classification. Most genes, such as KNTC1 (Liu et al, ), PHLDB1 (Baskin et al, ) and SH2D5 (Zheng et al, ), are involved in the development of various tumour cells, neural behaviour (like LSAMP) (Singh et al, ) and sensory ability defects (Schilit et al, ). However, KLHL29 has known functions in the protein degradation process through the ubiquitination pathway, and this gene was also identified as having a heat stress association in catfish (Jin et al, ; Liu et al, ).…”

Bioinformatics Analysis of Key Genes and Pathways of Cervical Cancer

“…Also, KNTC1 has been investigated in various human malignancies and has been associated with tumor histopathological grade. 33 A study explored the expression levels of KNTC1 mRNA in three esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell lines and established that all the tested cell lines showed that it is positively expressed. However, knocking out this gene can effectively inhibit cell viability and increase apoptosis.…”

Identification of key genes and their microRNAs in glioma: Evidence from bioinformatic analysis

“…KNTC1 (Kinetochore Associated 1) is a key component of mitosis, which encodes a protein involved in ensuring chromosome segregation and spindle assembly during cell division [62] . KNTC1 knockdown inhibits the cell viability of cancer cells and induces their apoptosis [63] . In the development of gliomas, KNTC1 expression increased signi cantly without the involvement of miRNA.…”