Author(s)

Xinbin He, Hongmei Jiang, Chong He, Guoxiang Sun, Jiandong Yang, Lei Wang, Kaige Zhang

Corresponding Author

Xinbin He

Abstract

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and is the leading cause of cancer-related death among females. Interleukin 21 (IL-21), which belongs to the common γ-chain (γc) family, is a novel tumor suppressor. In the present study, we aim to investigate the impacts of IL-21 on cell migration and invasion in breast cancer. The expressions of IL-21 in breast cancer tissue on mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by qRT-PCR and western blot methods. At the same time, scratch and transwell assays were conducted to examine the effect of IL-21 on the migration and invasion of breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Finally, the expression of PI3K and AKT, was well as migration and invasion related molecules were examined by western blot methods. We found that IL-21 was up-regulated in breast cancer tissues; moreover, treatment of IL-21 significantly increased the migration and invasion of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, IL-21 also increased the expressions of PI3K, p-AKT, MMP-3, MMP-9 and ICAM-1. To sum up, IL-21 might regulate the cell migration and invasion ability of breast cancer through activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Keywords

Breast cancer; IL-21; Migration and invasion