A critical role of CCR7 in invasiveness and metastasis of SW620 colon cancer cell in vitro and in vivo.

Tumor cell migration and metastasis are critically regulated by chemokines and their receptors. CC Chemokine Receptor 7 (CCR7) plays a critical role in mediating chemotactic and invasive responses in cancers. However, whether or not CCR7 is a desired target of cancer therapy needs further investigation in terms of its biodegradation and availability in vivo. In this study, we employed RNA interference technology to detect the in vitro effects of anti-CCR7 siRNAs on proliferation and invasiveness of SW620 cells. We also evaluated the ability of these siRNAs to inhibit the lymphogenesis and the lymph node metastasis in xenografted SW620 tumor mouse. The chemotaxis and invasion assay in the animal model showed that blocking CCR7 expression at the mRNA level by a siRNA impaired invasion of colon cancer cells and inhibited lymph node metastasis of colon cancer and lymphogenesis. Therefore, CCR7 might be a desired target for cancer therapy and novel drug development.