Objective  To explore the effect of silencing PKD1 on the proliferation, migration, chemosensitivity and apoptosis of human salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma cell line ACC-2.

Methods  ACC2 cell lines were transfected with either the Control-shRNA or PKD1-shRNA plasmids. The stable transfected cells were selected using puromycin and the efficiency of PKD1 knockdown was detected by Western blot. The cell migration of each cell lines was detected using wound-healing assay. The growth ability and the 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) of paclitaxel of the control and PKD1 knockdown cell lines were detected using Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8) . After by paclitaxel treatment, the control and PKD1 knockdown cell lines were stained using propidium iodide(PI) and the apoptosis cell rates were measured by flow cytometry.

Results  The stable ACC-2 cell line with PKD1 knockdown were established. Compared with the parental cells, the proliferation and migration of PKD1-sh cells were not significantly different, but their resistance to paclitaxel had a significant increase, evident as the increase in IC₅₀ value and the decrease in cell apoptosis rate.

Conclusion  The shRNA silencing of PKD1 in ACC-2 cells decreases their chemosensitivity to paclitaxel and inhibits paclitaxel-induced cell apoptosis.