A Preliminary Investigation Of The Expression Of SK4 In Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective: This research was to explore the expression and effect of SK4, an intermediate conductance calcium‐activated potassium channel, on hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods: Western Blotting was used to detect the expression level of SK4 protein in tissue samples. Real‐time PCR analysis was used to detect the transcription level of KCNN4 mRNA. The method of MTT was used to investigate the function of SK4 in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell in vitro. Specific blocker of SK4, tetraethyl‐ ammonium‐34, was used in this part to inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 cell. All data were analyzed by the statistics software of SPSS 16.0.Results: Comparing with para‐carcinoma tissue, an increase of the transcription and translation were detected in HCC tissue samples (P<0.05). The proliferation of HepG2 cell was inhibited by the specific blocker of SK4 in vitro. And the intensity of this effect is time and concentrate‐dependent.Conclusion: The transcription and translation were up‐regulated in the HCC tissue samples. And date from in vitro experiment shows that SK4 may have positive effect on the proliferation of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell. This effect can be inhibited by specific blockers. Thus SK4 may play a role in the progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma.