Role of the ABCE1 gene in human lung adenocarcinoma

ATP-binding cassette transporter E1 (ABCE1), also known as RLI (RNase L inhibitor), is a new type of endoribonuclease inhibitor, which can specifically bind to RNase L and abolish its effect. ABCE1 binds to eIF2α and eIF5 to form a pre-translation initiation complex, suggesting its crucial role in cell growth, development and certain pathological processes. To probe the role of ABCE1 in the development and progress of human lung adenocarcinoma, we first detected the changes of its mRNA and protein expression in tissues, and found a high expression level of ABCE1 in human lung adenocarcinoma tissues and metastatic lymph nodes, which was also correlated with clinical stages. Moreover, human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells were infected with lentiviral vectors containing ABCE1-specific shRNA, and resulted in significant inhibition of cell growth. Using microarray assay, a number of differentially expressed genes were found after ABCE1 suppression. Our results demonstrated the potential role of ABCE1 in human lung adenocarcinoma, which may provide some molecular basis for the mechanisms of development and progress of human lung adenocarcinoma, and help to find new pharmacological targets.