Transient down regulation of Hsp27 protein by shRNA sensitizes HeLa cells to cell death and promotes apoptosis.

<p><i>A</i>, pCI-Neo, pSuperNeo-ScRNA27 (Sc27), pSuperNeo-MsRNA27 (Ms27) and pSuper-ShRNA27 (Sh27) vectors were transiently expressed in HeLa cells. Samples were collected 48 h after transfection and Hsp27 level was analyzed by western blot. Level of actin was used as control. <i>B</i>, Sensitivity to cell death was determined by crystal violet analysis, as described in Materials and methods. Staurosporine, a pro-apoptotic kinase inhibitor, was used to induce apoptosis (<i>p</i><0.01). <i>C</i>, HeLa cells, treated for 4 h with different concentrations of staurosporine, were analyzed by western blot using an anti-caspase3 antibody.