Background: Nucleostemin plays a critical role in controlling proliferation and self-renewal of stem cells and cancer cells. Thus, inhibition of nucleostemin expression could be a potent therapeutic approach in cancer treatment. In the present study, the effects of nucleostemin gene silencing in K562 cell line were studied. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, after transfecting NS-specific siRNA into K562 cells, changes in nucleostemin gene expression pattern were determined by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Trypan blue exclusion test, MTT assay, and fluorescent microscopy were used to evaluate the growth inhibition and apoptosis of K562 cells, respectively. Flow-cytometery was utilized for evaluating the effects of nucleostemin gene silencing on cell cycle. Results: The results showed the high expression of nucleostemin gene in K562 cells. NS-siRNA transfection into K562 cells at 200 nM inhibited the nucleostemin mRNA level up to 55% after 48 hours when compared to corresponding control cells. Forty eight hours after transfection, the cell growth decreased up to 33.7%. In addition, the silencing of nucleostemin induced G1 cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, fluorescent microscopy assays indicated that apoptosis occurred 48 hours after silencing nucleostemin gene expression. Conclusion: Noticing the potent growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of nucleostemin siRNA in human myeloid leukemia K562 cells, silencing this gene can be a potential target for inhibiting K562 cells as the stem cell model of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Keywords: Apoptosis, Chronic myelogenous leukemia, Nucleostemin, SiRNA

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