Open AccessThe CXCL12/CXCR4 autocrine loop increases the metastatic potential of non-small cell lung cancer in vitro
Author(s) -
Xiaofeng Dai,
Zhi-fu Mao,
Jie Huang,
Songping Xie,
Hao Zhang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
oncology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1792-1082
pISSN - 1792-1074
DOI - 10.3892/ol.2012.960
Subject(s) - autocrine signalling , cxcr4 , oncogene , cancer research , lung cancer , metastasis , cancer , molecular medicine , biology , cancer cell , chemokine , medicine , cell cycle , immunology , receptor , inflammation
The CXCL12/CXCR4 endocrine axis has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in organ-specific metastasis of many different types of tumors, but the precise role of the CXCL12/CXCR4 autocrine loop remains poorly understood. In this study, we constructed a functional CXCL12/CXCR4 autocrine loop in A549 cells using a gene transfection technique to evaluate its effect on the metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our results demonstrated that the CXCL12/CXCR4 autocrine loop significantly promoted the motility, proliferation and invasiveness of the A549 cells, suggesting a key role of the CXCL12/CXCR4 autocrine loop in NSCLC metastasis. In addition, these findings suggest that targeted therapies directed against CXCR4 should consider the CXCL12 expression status of the NSCLC to be treated, since tumors with autocrine overexpression of CXCL12 may be more suitable for the application of chemokine-based anti-cancer therapies.