RNAi-mediated silencing of praline-rich gene causes growth reduction in human lung cancer cells.

Lung cancer ranks among one of the most frequent causes of cancer death in the world. Here, we investigated PRR11, one novel gene, with no functional annotation, was found to be over-expressed in lung cancer patients suggesting its potential implication in tumorigenesis. Furthermore, high PRR11 levels predict shorter survival of lung cancer patients. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of PRR11 in lung cancer using the technique of RNA silencing via small interfering RNA (siRNA). Synthetic siRNA duplexes against PRR11 were introduced into 3 lung cancer cell lines, which subsequently resulted in a significant depletion in PRR11 expression in the cells. We found that the targeted depletion of PRR11 caused a dramatic cell cycle arrest followed by massive apoptotic cell death, and eventually resulted in a significant decrease in growth and viability of all 2 lung cancer cell lines. In summary, our study strongly suggests that PRR11 may serve as a potential therapeutic target in human lung cancer.