Objective: To investigate the expression of La protein in cervical cancer tissues and explore its role in the occurrence and progression of cervical cancer.
Methods: The expression of La protein in cervical cancer and normal cervical tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining. RNA interference technology was used to silence La protein expression in HeLa cells and the changes in cell proliferation, tumor sphere formation and cell cycles were investigated.
Results: The expression of La protein was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than in normal cervical tissues (61% vs 9%, P<0.05). Silencing La protein expression in HeLa cells caused significantly reduced the cell proliferation and lowered the tumor sphere formation rate from the control level of (17.1=1.92)% to (6.3=0.45)% (P<0.05), resulting also in G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and reduced cyclin D1 protein expression.
Conclusion: The RNA binding protein La can promote the development of cervical cancer and may play a critical role in the carcinogenesis and progression of cervical cancer.