Figure 1
MeCP2 ablation causes a defect in cell proliferation with a delay in cell-cycle progression. (A) PC-3, (B) LNCaP and (C) NIH-3 T3 cells were transfected with siRNA MeCP2 or non-targeting siRNA CTRL oligos; MeCP2 ablation was checked at 5 and 7 days after transfection and PC-3, LNCaP and NIH-3 T3 cells, and cell proliferation was analysed (data are mean ± SD bars calculated from three independent experiments). (D) A representative FACS analysis of PC-3 treated with control siRNA (siRNA CTRL: plots 1, 2 and 3) or with siRNA against MeCP2 (siRNA MeCP2: plots 4, 5 and 6) that shows a delay in cell-cycle progression. (E) After 7 days of MeCP2 silencing was observed an enrichment of cells in sub-G0/G1 phase (M1 bar), a representative FACS analysis is shown in E1. The synthesis of three independent FACS experiments after 7 days of MeCP2 silencing is represented in bar chart E2 (statistics were performed using Student’s test. *: significant difference between siRNA CTRL and siRNA MeCP2 PC-3 cells, P < 0.005). (F) A representative bi-parametric BrdU/PI FACS analysis of PC-3 cells after 7 days of MeCP2 silencing is shown in F1; the synthesis of three independent bi-parametric BrdU/PI FACS analysis of PC-3 cells after 7 days of MeCP2 silencing is represented in bar chart F2 (statistics were performed using ANOVA. *: significant difference in cell cycle phases between siRNA CTRL and siRNA MeCP2 PC-3 cells, P < 0.05).