title: PACE4 regulates proliferation, migration and invasion in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells.
abstract: PACE4 is one of the proprotein convertases (PC) that participate in the post-translational activation of inactive proteins, leading to mature, biologically active proteins. The processing reactions occur in pairs of basic amino acids. PACE4 is an extracellular PC that binds to growth factors and several components of the extracellular matrix contributing to tumor progression. In the present study, the PACE4 gene was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA), and the knockdown human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells showed significantly reduced proliferation, migration and invasion rates. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that downregulation of PACE4 increases the percentage of cells arrested at the G0/G1 phase. Moreover, the expression of genes involved in cell growth, invasion and adhesion, i.e., IGF-2, MMP9 and MPZL2 was significantly decreased following siRNA-mediated silencing of PACE4. Taken together, these results indicate that PACE4 plays an important role in human breast cancer, and that it might represent a novel target for breast cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medicinal and Biotechnology Center, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medicinal and Biotechnology Center, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medicinal and Biotechnology Center, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006801:Humans; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D043484:Proprotein Convertases / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C112474:MPZL2 protein, human; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D004958:Estradiol; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II; C080654:PCSK6 protein, human; D043484:Proprotein Convertases; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9