Objective: To explore the effect of silencing lumican on the invasion and migration of liver cancer cells.
Methods: Lumican was silenced by shRNA in liver cancer cells (HepG2 and MHCC97H). The mRNA levels of lumican were detected by qRT-PCR. Cell invasion was measured by Transwell. Cell migration was tested via wound healing. The protein levels of lumican,MMP-9,VEGF,ERK1,JNK,p-ERK1 and p-JNK were measured by Western blot.
Results: Liver cancer cells (HepG2 and MHCC97H) had higher levels of mRNA and protein of lumican compared with normal hepatocyte L02 (P<0.01). shRNA lowered the levels of mRNA and protein of lumican (P<0.01),and weakened the invasion and migration of cancer cells (P<0.01). The expressions of MMP-9 and VEGF decreased with the shRNA silence (P<0.01). shRNA also reduced the protein level of p-ERK1 and p-JNK (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Silencing lumican by shRNA attenuates the invasion and migration of liver cancer cells via inhibiting the activation of ERK1/JNK pathway.
Keywords: ERK1/JNK pathway; Invasion; Liver cancer; Migration; lumican; shRNA.
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