Livin mediates tumor cell invasion in the DU-145 cell line via NF-κB.

Livin is a member of the family of inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) and tumor cell invasion is a general property of multiple IAPs. Livin is highly expressed in prostate cancer (PCa) tissues. Livin overexpressing cells are more resistant to apoptotic stimuli than normal cells. Thus, aberrantly increased cell survival is an invariable requirement of metastasis. In this study, we investigated whether livin signaling affects metastasis by transfecting siRNA targeting livin into the DU-145 prostate cancer cell line to confirm the anti-invasion effect and blockade of the livin gene. We found that livin knockdown inhibited DU-145 prostate carcinoma cell invasion. We investigated how livin promotes tumor cell invasion, and found that livin induction of fibronectin contributed to tumor cell invasion. In addition, we found that livin induction of fibronectin regulates tumor cell invasion via nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling. These data showed that livin, as a gene directly promoting metastasis, can be useful for therapeutic intervention against advanced and disseminated PCa.