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 multifunctional glycoprotein that has been shown to increase tumor invasion, metastasis and multidrug resistance. To define the role of CD147 in invasion and metastasis more precisely, we utilized gene silencing to inhibit the expression of CD147 in pancreatic cancer cells. We observed that CD147 expression was significantly impeded at both the mRNA 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 potential of pancreatic cancer cells, as well as increased chemosensitivity to gemcitabine in Panc-1 cells. Overall, these results suggest that CD147 plays an important role in the invasion, metastasis and chemosensitivity of the human pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1, indicating that CD147 may be a promising therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.