Effect of KLF4 on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and invasion ability of pancreatic cancer / 中华胰腺病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of Kruppel like factor 4 (KLF4) on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and invasion ability of pancreatic cancer.Methods The expression of KLF4 in 70 pancreatic cancer tissues and 10 normal pancreatic tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry,and the correlations between KLF4 expression and pathological characteristics were analyzed.Small hairpin RNA targeting KLF4 (sh-KLF4) and negative control shRNA were constructed.After the transfection of shRNA,qRT-PCR and western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of KLF4,E-cadherin and vimentin,and cell scratch-wound assay and transwell assay were utilized to determine the ability of invasion and metastasis.Results KLF4 expression (47.1％) was lower in pancreatic cancer tissues compared with normal pancreatic tissues (80.0％),and negatively correlated with cell differentiation,tumor stage and distant metastasis.Down-regulated KLF4 expression in PANC1 cell caused decreased mRNA and protein expression of E-cadherin (F =25.71,P =0.0011) and increased mRNA and protein expression of vimentin (F =24.95,P=0.0012).Knockdown of KLF4 in PANC1 cell promoted the transition from epithelial morphology to mesenchymal morphology,and enhanced the healing ability (F =47.82,P ＜ 0.001),migration (F =53.68,P=0.0001) and invasion (F=27.65,P=0.0009).Conclusions Knockdown of KLF4 can promote EMT and enhance the invasion ability of pancreatic cancer.