CDCA4, a downstream gene of the Nrf2 signaling pathway, regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis in the MCF-7/ADM human breast cancer cell line

The present study aimed to examine the effect of RNA interference targeting cell division cycle-associated protein 4 (CDCA4) on the proliferation and apoptosis of the MCF-7/ADR' human breast cancer cell line. CDCA4 has been shown to have a unique role in regulating cell cycle. In the present study, the expression of CDCA4 was suppressed by CDCA4-specific short hairpin (sh)RNA transfection of the human breast cancer cells, following which changes in the proliferation and apoptosis of the CDCA4-knockdown cells were compared with those of control shRNA-transfected cells. The results confirmed that CDCA4 RNA interference reduced the percentage of human breast cancer cells to <50%. In addition, RNA interference of CDCA4 resulted in a significant increase in the apoptotic rate of cells. Taken together, these results suggested that CDCA4 enhanced proliferation and reduced apoptosis in the MCF-7/ADM human breast cancer cells in vitro.