Abstract:
Objective To explore the expression of calbindin 2 (CALB2) in cholangiocarcinoma and its impact on cholangiocarcinoma cells.
Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of CALB2 in cancerous and adjacent non-cancerous samples from patients with cholangiocarcinoma. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of CALB2 in cholangiocarcinoma cell lines and the efficiency of CALB2 knockdown vectors. Cell cloning, EdU, and CCK-8 assays were used to assess the proliferation of each group. Wound healing and migration assays were used to detect the changes in the metastatic ability of cholangiocarcinoma cells after CALB2 knockdown. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining was used to detect the effect of CALB2 knockdown on apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells.
Results Immunohistochemical results showed that CALB2 was highly expressed in cholangiocarcinoma patient samples compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues (P < 0.05). RT-PCR results indicated that CALB2 was overexpressed in RBE and QBC939 cells compared to HIBepic cells (P < 0.05). CCK-8, cell cloning, and EdU assay results showed that the si-CALB2 group inhibited the proliferation of RBE and QBC939 cells compared to the NC group (P < 0.05). Wound healing assays indicated that the metastatic ability of the si-CALB2 group was reduced compared to the NC group (P < 0.05). Migration assay results showed that the number of migrated cells in the si-CALB2 group was decreased compared to the NC group (P < 0.05). Subsequent apoptosis assays revealed that the apoptosis rate of cells in the si-CALB2 group was increased compared to the NC group (P < 0.05).
Conclusions CALB2 is highly expressed in cholangiocarcinoma and promotes the proliferation, metastasis, and apoptosis escape of cholangiocarcinoma cells.