Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of hairpin RNA on the expression of human papillomavirus E6 gene. Methods Plasmids expressing hairpin RNA, sense RNA and anti-sense RNA were constructed. The recombinants were transfected into cervical cancer cell line, CaSKi. Expression of E6 was detected with semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot. Results Hairpin RNA could significantly reduce the expressions of E6 mRNA and protein, which was more efficient than traditional anti-sense RNA did. Conclusion The RNA interference through hairpin RNA can effectively inhibit the expression of target gene, and can be potentially useful in gene therapy of HPV related tumors.

Key words: Papillomavirus, human, RNA, messenger, Plasmids, Gene expression