ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)-derived chemokine ligands 7 (CCL7) on the proliferation and invasion of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Methods The mRNA expression level and protein level of CCL7 in CAFs and paracancerous fibroblasts were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western Blot respectively. To confirm the paracrine level of CCL7 in CAFs and paracancerous fibroblasts, the protein levels of CCL7 in the corresponding conditional medium were detected through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The effect of CCL7 on the proliferation and invasion of MDA-MB-231 (TNBC cell line) was investigated by MTS assay and Transwell assay, respectively. Results In comparison with paracancerous fibroblasts, the mRNA expression level and protein level of CCL7 in CAFs were significantly increased (both P<0.01). There was an obviously increase of paracrine level of CCL7 in CAFs-conditional medium (P<0.01). The MTS assay and Transwell assay results indicated that CCL7 was more able to promote the proliferation and invasion of MDA-MB-231. Conclusion CAFs in the TNBC stroma can produce more chemokine CCL7, and CCL7 can promote the proliferation and invasion of TNBC cells