Effects of nicastrin (NCSTN) siRNA knockdown in HEK293 and HEK001 cells.. Homo sapiens

The goal of this study was to determine if knockdown of nicastrin induced a proinflammatory phenotype in HEK001 and HEK293 cells. Nicastrin (NCSTN) is a member of the gamma-secretase complex, and has been identified as the most frequently mutated gene in familial hidradenitis suppurativa. While much research has been done into the effects of PSEN1 and PSEN2 loss, less is known about isolated NCSTN haploinsufficiency. Two cell lines were knocked down with either NCSTN siRNA or an siRNA to luciferase in triplicate. RNA was extracted from drug selected knockdowns and profiled on the Illumina Human HT-12 v4 beadarray. Gene ontology analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed a proinflammatory and decreased proliferation signature in keratinocytes. HEK293 cells demonstrated expression signatures for decreased cholesterol synthesis and interferon-alpha signaling, as well as increased p53 signaling and caspase mediated cytoskeletal cleavage. Overall design: 12 total samples. Two cell lines (HEK001 & HEK293) each with two treatments (NCSTN siRNA knockdown or pLKO luciferase knockdown) in three parallel 3 replicates each. For each line gives the changes specific to knockdown of gamma-secretase component nicastrin (NCSTN).