ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the effect of CRT on thapsigargin (TG)-induced epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of pancreatic cancer (PC) cells.Methods:Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate the differential CRT expression in PC tissues. Western blot (WB) and transwell were used to detect the effect of CRT silencing on TG induced EMT phenotype. Fluro-4/AM and confocal microscopy were used to detect intracellular calcium level in PC cells.Results:CRT was overexpressed in PC tissues ( P<0.01). Overexpression of CRT was positively associated with lymph node metastasis ( P=0.017) and UICC stage ( P=0.021) of PC patients, and negatively associated with E-cadherin expression ( P=0.013). High CRT and low E-cad expression contributed to the poor prognosis of PC patients ( P=0.023). In PC cells, TG induced EMT phenotype was reversed by siRNA-mediated CRT silencing. TG induced EMT was significantly reversed by CRT silencing in vitro. Conclusions:CRT mediates TG induced intracytoplasmic Ca 2+, and ultimately promotes EMT of PC cells.