Open Access

Gene expression alterations of human liver cancer cells following borax exposure

  • Authors:
    • Lun Wu
    • Ying Wei
    • Wen‑Bo Zhou
    • You‑Shun Zhang
    • Qin‑Hua Chen
    • Ming‑Xing Liu
    • Zheng‑Peng Zhu
    • Jiao Zhou
    • Li‑Hua Yang
    • Hong‑Mei Wang
    • Guang‑Min Wei
    • Sheng Wang
    • Zhi‑Gang Tang
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: May 23, 2019     https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7169
  • Pages: 115-130
  • Copyright: © Wu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Borax is a boron compound that is becoming widely recognized for its biological effects, including lipid peroxidation, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, antioxidant activity and potential therapeutic benefits. However, it remains unknown whether exposure of human liver cancer (HepG2) cells to borax affects the gene expression of these cells. HepG2 cells were treated with 4 mM borax for either 2 or 24 h. Gene expression analysis was performed using Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 2.0 ST Arrays, which was followed by gene ontology analysis and pathway analysis. The clustering result was validated using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A cell proliferation assay was performed using Celigo Image Cytometer Instrumentation. Following this, 2‑ or 24‑h exposure to borax significantly altered the expression level of a number of genes in HepG2 cells, specifically 530 genes (384 upregulated and 146 downregulated) or 1,763 genes (1,044 upregulated and 719 downregulated) compared with the control group, respectively (≥2‑fold; P<0.05). Twenty downregulated genes were abundantly expressed in HepG2 cells under normal conditions. Furthermore, the growth of HepG2 cells was inhibited through the downregulation of PRUNE1, NBPF1, PPcaspase‑1, UPF2 and MBTPS1 (≥1.5‑fold, P<0.05). The dysregulated genes potentially serve important roles in various biological processes, including the inflammation response, stress response, cellular growth, proliferation, apoptosis and tumorigenesis/oncolysis.
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July-2019
Volume 42 Issue 1

Print ISSN: 1021-335X
Online ISSN:1791-2431

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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Wu L, Wei Y, Zhou WB, Zhang YS, Chen QH, Liu MX, Zhu ZP, Zhou J, Yang LH, Wang HM, Wang HM, et al: Gene expression alterations of human liver cancer cells following borax exposure. Oncol Rep 42: 115-130, 2019
APA
Wu, L., Wei, Y., Zhou, W., Zhang, Y., Chen, Q., Liu, M. ... Tang, Z. (2019). Gene expression alterations of human liver cancer cells following borax exposure. Oncology Reports, 42, 115-130. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7169
MLA
Wu, L., Wei, Y., Zhou, W., Zhang, Y., Chen, Q., Liu, M., Zhu, Z., Zhou, J., Yang, L., Wang, H., Wei, G., Wang, S., Tang, Z."Gene expression alterations of human liver cancer cells following borax exposure". Oncology Reports 42.1 (2019): 115-130.
Chicago
Wu, L., Wei, Y., Zhou, W., Zhang, Y., Chen, Q., Liu, M., Zhu, Z., Zhou, J., Yang, L., Wang, H., Wei, G., Wang, S., Tang, Z."Gene expression alterations of human liver cancer cells following borax exposure". Oncology Reports 42, no. 1 (2019): 115-130. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7169