Protein synthesis inhibitor-mediated stability of adenomatous polyposis coli mRNA levels in HCT-116 colon cancer cells

We examined the effect of a protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (CHX) on the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mRNA levels in HCT-116 colon cancer cell line. The HCT-116 cells were treated with different concentrations of CHX for 15 h. APC, p53 and β-actin mRNA levels were determined by Northern blotting. Results showed that APC and β-actin mRNA levels were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner after CHX treatment. The p53 mRNA levels were moderately increased. The increase in APC mRNA levels after CHX treatment was due to increase in its stability instead of transcription. These results provide a model for CHX-induced APC mRNA stabilization and its implication in cell cycle arrest and cell survival studies.