ABSTRACT
Asparaginase like 1 (ASRGL1) protein belongs to the Nterminal nucleophile group, cleaving the isoaspartyldipeptides and Lasparagine by adding water. It tends to be overexpressed in cancerous tumors including ovarian cancer and breast tumors. The present study assessed the potential ability of ASRGL1 as a molecular target in genebased cervical cancer treatment. The protein expression level of ASRGL1 was determined in paraffinembedded tumor specimen by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, in order to assess the activity of ASRGL1 during the process of cervical cancer cell multiplication, ASRGL1short hairpin (sh) RNAexpressing lentivirus was established, which was used to infect SiHa cells. The Cellomics ArrayScan VT1 Reader identified the influence of downregulation on SiHa caused by RNA interferenceintervened ASRGL1. Flow cytometric analysis was also performed to evaluate the influence. The cyclin dependent kinase (CDK2), cyclin A2, Bcell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) and Bcl2associated X protein (Bax) expression levels were assessed by western blot analysis. ASRGL1 was observed to be overexpressed in cervical cancer tissues when compared with the adjacent normal tissues. The knockdown of ASRGL1 in SiHa by ASRGL1shRNA lentivirus infection significantly inhibited cell growth and enhanced cellular apoptosis; the cells were also captured during the S phase. The knockdown of ASRGL1 expression led to the increased expression of Bax and decreased expression of Bcl2, CDK2 and cyclin A2. In conclusion, ASRGL1 was closely associated with growth and apoptosis in cervical cancer. Therefore, ASRGL1 may be a novel, potentially effective anticervical cancer therapy.
