Knockdown of hypoxia inducible factor-2α inhibits cell invasion via the downregulation of MMP-2 expression in breast cancer cells.
Hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) are important regulatory molecules of the intracellular oxygen-signaling pathway. The role of HIF-1α has been confirmed in breast carcinoma; however, little is understood concerning the function of HIF-2α. The present study treated human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells with the HIF activator cobalt chloride, and transfected HIF-2α small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) into MCF-7 cells to suppress HIF-2α expression. The siRNAs significantly reduced the levels of HIF-2α and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 in the treated MCF-7 cells. An invasion assay demonstrated that the siRNAs targeting HIF-2α inhibited the invasion potency of the cells. The present study concludes that loss of HIF-2α may be associated with a decreased risk for the progression of human breast cancer, due to the downregulation of the expression of MMP-2.
Department of Pathology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
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Li
Department of Clinical Immunology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
Hongxing
H
Wang
Department of Pathology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
Jie
J
Zhang
Department of Pathology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
Erchen
E
Zhao
HIF-2α; MMP-2; breast cancer; invasion; siRNA