ABSTRACT
[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the mechanism underlying breast cancer metastasis and to provide theoretical da-ta for studying the pathogenesis of breast cancer onset and development.METHODS: Human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were treated with different concentrations of furin inhibitorα1-PDX for 48 h.Wound healing assay and Transwell assay were applied to detect the migration and invasion abilities of the MCF-7 cells.The expression of cell migration-associated proteins, including membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase ( MT1-MMP) , vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF)-C and VEGF-D, was determined by Western blotting.The protein levels of MMP2 and MMP9 in the supernatant were measured by ELISA. RESULTS:Compared with control group, 200 nmol/L of furin inhibitor exerted significant inhibitory effects on the cell mi-gration (P<0.05).The expression of cell migration-associated proteins MT1-MMP, VEGF-C and VEGF-D was significantly inhibited after treated withα1-PDX ( P<0.05 ) .Significant inhibitory effects of α1-PDX on the expression of MMP9 and MMP2 (P<0.05) in the supernatant were observed.CONCLUSION:Furin inhibitor suppresses the metastasis of MCF-7 cells via down-regulating the expression of MMPs and VEGFs.