Vitamin D3 analogue EB1089 inhibits the proliferation of human laryngeal squamous carcinoma cells via p57

The objective of this study is to evaluate the role of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57 in EB1089-inhibited proliferation of human laryngeal squamous carcinoma cells (HEp-2). HEp-2 cells were treated with the vitamin D-3 analogue EB1089 for 48 h and total RNA was extracted for reverse transcription-PCR amplification using primers for the p57 coding sequence. Proteins were detected by Western blot analysis. For interference using silencing RNA (siRNA), HEp-2 cells were transfected with siRNA specific for p57 (siRNA-p57) or a negative control sequence (siRNA-con) followed by treatment with 10 nmol/L EB1089. The effects of EB1089 on cell proliferation were evaluated by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation and '3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Cell death and cell cycle dynamics were monitored using flow cytometry. EB1089 significantly inhibited HEp-2 cell proliferation and increased p57 mRNA and protein levels; this was blocked by siRNA-p57 but not by siRNA-con. The EB1089-induced suppression of HEp-2 cell proliferation recovered to near-normal levels with siRNA-p57 transfection. EB1089 inhibits the proliferation of HEp-2 cells and p57 plays an important role in this.