Objectives: To determine the expression of chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 7 (CXCR7) in five gastric cancer cell lines with various degrees of differentiation, and the effect of silencing CXCR7 on the migration and invasion of SGC-7901 cells.
Methods: The expression of CXCR7 in gastric cell lines (HGC-27, MGC-803, SGC-7901, BGC-823 and MKN-28) was detected by Western bolt and RT-PCR. The SGC-7901 cells were transfected with liposome of CXCR7 siRNA to silence CXCR7 gene, and then treated with stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1)-the ligand of CXCR7. Transwell assay was used for determining the migratory and invasive ability of SGC-7901 cells in the four groups: NC siRNA, NC siRNA+SDF-1, CXCR7 siRNA and CXCR7 siRNA+SDF-1.
Results: CXCR7 was expressed in the five gastric cancer cell lines, with the highest intensity in SGC-7901. The migrated and invasive cells increased in the NC siRNA+SDF-1 group and reduced in the CXCR7-siRNA group compared with the NC siRNA group (P<0.05). The CXCR7-siRNA+SDF-1 group had less migrated and invasive cells than the NC siRNA+SDF-1 group (P<0.05).
Conclusions: CXCR7 is highly expressed in SGC-7901. SDF-1 promotes the migratory and invasive capability of SGC-7901 cells, but such an effect can be inhibited by silencing it with CXCR7siRNA.
Keywords: CXCR7; Gastric cancer; Invasion; Migration.