Knockdown of Radixin Suppresses Gastric Cancer Metastasis In Vitro by Up-Regulation of E-Cadherin via NF-κB/Snail Pathway.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Radixin has recently been shown to correlate with the metastasis of gastric cancer, but the pathogenesis is elusive. Adhesion proteins contribute to the regulation of metastasis, and thus this study sought to investigate the role of radixin in the migration, invasion and adhesion of gastric cancer cells, as well as its interaction with adhesion proteins in vitro. METHODS: Radixin stable knockdown human gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 cells were constructed. Alterations in the migration, invasion and adhesion ability were examined by matrigel-coated plate and transwell assays. The expression pattern of adhesion proteins, including E-cadherin, ß-catenin and claudin-1, was determined by quantitative real-time PCR and western blot. Possible involvement of NF-κB/snail pathway was also evaluated. RESULTS: Stable knockdown of radixin significantly suppressed migration and invasion, but enhanced adhesion in SGC-7901 cells. The expression of E-cadherin was manifestly increased in radixin knockdown cells, whereas the expression of ß-catenin and claudin-1 was unchanged. The nuclear exclusion of NF-κB followed by conspicuous reduction of snail expression was involved in the regulation of E-cadherin expression. CONCLUSIONS: Radixin knockdown suppresses the metastasis of SGC-7901 cells in vitro by up-regulation of E-cadherin. The NF-κB/snail pathway contributes to the regulation of E-cadherin in response to depletion of radixin.