RNA Interference-based Investigation of the Function of Heat Shock Protein 27 during Corneal Epithelial Wound Healing

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is among the most widely used RNA interference methods for the short-term silencing of protein-coding genes. siRNA is a synthetic RNA duplex created to specifically target a mRNA transcript to induce its degradation and it has been used to identify novel pathways in various cellular processes. Few reports exist regarding the role of phosphorylated heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) in corneal epithelial wound healing. Herein, cultured human corneal epithelial cells were divided into a scrambled control-siRNA transfected group and a HSP27-specific siRNA-transfected group. Scratch-induced directional wounding assays, and western blotting, and flow cytometry were then performed. We conclude that HSP27 has roles in corneal epithelial wound healing that may involve epithelial cell apoptosis and migration. Here, step-by-step descriptions of sample preparation and the study protocol are provided.