Human ether-à-go-go-related gene expression is essential for cisplatin to induce apoptosis in human gastric cancer

Human ether-à-go-go-related gene (HERG) is over-expressed in a wide range of human cancers and regulates survival, migration, and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of HERG in cisplatin-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo. siRNA was used to silence HERG expression. HERG expression was detected by Western blot analysis in vitro, and further confirmed by immunohistochemistry in vivo. Chemosensitivity to cisplatin in gastric cancer cells was analyzed with a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry in vitro, and in situ apoptotic SGC7901 human gastric tumor cells in BALB/c nude mice were detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling. Our results show that cisplatin increased the expression of HERG in gastric cancer cells. Silencing HERG inhibited the apoptosis induced by cisplatin both in vitro and in vivo, by attenuating the cisplatin effects on Bcl-2, Bax and active caspase-3. The role of HERG in modulation of cisplatin-induced apoptosis suggests that HERG may provide a new potential target for cisplatin chemotherapy in human gastric cancer.