title: Inhibition of Mus81 by siRNA enhances sensitivity to 5-FU in breast carcinoma cell lines.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  One of the most challenging aspects of breast carcinoma chemotherapy is the rapid acquirement of drug resistance. Improving the sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs is very important for successful treatment. Mus81 plays an important role in maintaining the stability of the genome and DNA repair. However, recent studies suggested that Mus81 expression levels correlate well with resistance to DNA-damaging drugs. The present study aimed to investigate the role of Mus81 on the chemosensitivity of breast carcinoma cells in response to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a chemotherapeutic drug that is widely used for treatment of breast malignancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of Mus81 in MCF-7 and T47D cells was suppressed by small interfering RNA (siRNA). mRNA and protein levels of Mus81 were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. Cell viability and colony survival were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 and plate colony formation assay, respectively. Cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  5-FU inhibited the cell viability of MCF-7 and T47D cells in a concentration-dependent manner. We found that the Mus81-silenced MCF-7 and T47D cells exhibited decreased cell viability and clonogenic survival, but increased G2 accumulation, in response to 5-FU. In addition, Mus81 deficiency resulted in increased apoptosis and p53 expression in MCF-7 after 5-FU treatment. However, Mus81 deficiency did not affect the apoptosis of T47D cells with 5-FU.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together, our data suggest that Mus81 inhibition significantly increased the chemosensitivity of MCF-7 and T47D cells in response to 5-FU. Thus, Mus81 siRNA is potentially a useful adjuvant strategy for breast cancer chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education of China; School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China ; Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education of China; School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China ; Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiuyue
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education of China; School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China ; Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yunlu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education of China; School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China ; Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
keywords: 5-FU; Mus81; breast carcinoma; chemosensitivity; p53; siRNA