Up-regulation of lncRNA SNHG11 is related to malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells induced by beryllium sulfate

Figure 1. BeSO4 impaired cell viability of 16HBE cells after 48 hr exposure. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation, n=3. *p < 0.05, compared with the control group.

Figure 2. Morphological and proliferation vitality changes of 16HBE cells induced by long-term low-dose BeSO4 exposure. (A) Low-dose exposure to BeSO4 resulted in morphological changes of 16HBE cells. (B) Low-dose exposure to BeSO4 led to the loss of contact inhibition of 16HBE cells. (C-H) Low-dose exposure to BeSO4 enhanced cell proliferation ability and shortened doubling time of 16HBE cells. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation, n=3. *p < 0.05, compared with the passage 0, #p < 0.05, compared with the control of corresponding passage.

Figure 3. Low-dose exposure to BeSO4 resulted in colony formation of 16HBE cells in soft agar. (A) The absence of cell colony in soft agar in the control group, a few colonies at the 25th passage, and an increase in the number of colonies at the 35th and 45th passage after BeSO4 exposure. (B) The colony formation efficiency (‰) was increased after BeSO4 exposure for 25 passages. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation, n=3. *p < 0.05, compared with the passage 0, #p < 0.05, compared with the control of corresponding passage.

Figure 4. Dynamic changes of MMP9, MMP2, PCNA, cyclin D1, and p53 in 16HBE cells exposed to BeSO4 at different passages. (A) The expression levels of MMP9, MMP2, PCNA, cyclin D1, and p53 proteins were determined by western blot in 16HBE cells with or without BeSO4 exposure. (B-F) The proteins densitometric analysis. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation, n=3. *p < 0.05, compared with the passage 0, #p < 0.05, compared with the control of corresponding passage.

Figure 5. The expression of lncRNAs at different passages of malignant transformation of 16HBE cells induced by BeSO4. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation, n=3. *p < 0.05, compared with the passage 0, #p < 0.05, compared with the control of corresponding passage.

Figure 6. Changes of proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities of 16HBE and T-16HBE cells with or without SNHG11 interference. (A) The expression level of SNHG11 was detected by qRT-PCR after siRNA transfection. (B) The cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 after SNHG11 knockdown. (C-D) Relative protein levels of MMP9, MMP2, PCNA, cyclin D1, and p53 in 16HBE and T-16HBE cells with or without SNHG11 siRNA transfection. (E-G) The cell invasion and migration abilities were detected by transwell assay after SNHG11 knockdown. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation, n=3. *p < 0.05, compared with the control group, #p < 0.05, compared with the si-NC group.