VDR silencing inhibits the proliferation of several human cancer cell lines.

<p>(<b>A</b>) The cells were infected with lentiviral VDR shRNA 3 or shRNA control and the silencing efficacy was examined in both the total and mitochondrial extracts using western blotting. Tubulin detected in total extracts and VDAC levels in mitochondrial fractions were used as internal controls for protein loading. (<b>B</b>) Both the silenced and control cells were subjected to proliferation assays seven days after infection and selection. The cells were stained at 72 hours or five days after seeding, and the values for the silenced cells are expressed as the percentage of their respective controls. The data are expressed as the means ±SD of three independent experiments. * P<0.05 compared to the control.