CD147 silencing via RNA interference reduces tumor cell invasion, metastasis and increases chemosensitivity in pancreatic cancer cells

CD147, which belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily, is a multifunctionalglycoprotein that has been shown to increase tumor invasion, metastasis and multidrugresistance. To define the role of CD147 in invasion and metastasis more precisely,we utilized gene silencing to inhibit the expression of CD147 in pancreatic cancercells. We observed that CD147 expression was significantly impeded at both themRNA and protein levels and resulted in a decrease of MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities.There was also a decrease of MCT1 expression in the invasion and metastasis potentialof pancreatic cancer cells, as well as increased chemosensitivity to gemcitabinein Panc-1 cells. Overall, these results suggest that CD147 plays an importantrole in the invasion, metastasis and chemosensitivity of the human pancreaticcancer cell line Panc-1, indicating that CD147 may be a promising therapeutictarget for pancreatic cancer.