Silencing of the WFS1 gene in HEK cells induces pathways related to neurodegeneration and mitochondrial damage.

The gene WFS1 encodes a protein with unknown function although its functional deficiency causes different neuropsychiatric and neuroendocrine syndromes. In the present study, we aimed to find the functional networks influenced by the time-dependent silencing of WFS1 in HEK cells. We performed whole genome gene expression profiling (Human Gene 1.0 ST Arrays) in HEK cells 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours after transfection with three different WFS1 siRNAs. In order to verify silencing we performed quantitative RT-PCR and western blot analysis. Analysis was conducted in two ways. First we analyzed the overall effect of the siRNA treatment on the gene expression profile. As a next step we performed time-course analysis separately for different siRNAs and combined for all siRNAs. Quantitative RT-PCR and western blot confirmed clear silencing of WFS1 gene expression after 48 hours. Eleven genes had an FDR value less than 10% and most of them were genes related to the mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis. Time-course analysis confirmed significant correlation between WFS1 silencing and changes in the expression profiles of several genes. The pathways that were influenced significantly by WFS1 silencing were related to mitochondrial damage and neurodegenerative diseases. Our findings suggest the role of WSF1 gene in cell survival and its involvement in the degenerative diseases.

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