Aquaporin 3 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastric cancer

Background: gastric carcinoma (gc) is a common and lethal malignancy,and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (emt) is believed to contribute to invasive and metastatic tumor growth. aquaporin 3 (aqp3) is overexpressed in human gc tissues,while human epidermal growth factor (egf) and hepatocyte growth factor,which can induce emt,are able to up-regulate aqp3 expression,subsequently promoting gc cell migration and proliferation. the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aqp3 on emt in human gc. methods. aqp3 and emt-related proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry in human gc specimens and their clinical significance evaluated. aqp3 knockdown was attempted using small interfering rnas,while egf was used to up-regulate aqp3 expression. western blotting,real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate changes in expression of aqp3 and emt-related proteins in the sgc7901 and mgc803 human gc cell lines. results: aqp3 up-expression was associated with emt-related proteins in human gc specimens,which correlated with poor prognosis for gc. aqp3 modulated gc cell proliferation,migration and invasion in vitro,and induced e-cadherin repression. aqp3 also up-regulated the expression of vimentin and fibronectin in vitro. the pi3k/akt/snail signaling pathway was likely involved in the induction of emt by aqp3 in gc. conclusions: aqp3 promotes emt in human cases of gc,allowing us to understand the mechanisms of aqp3 in gc progression,thus providing a potential strategy for its treatment. © 2014chen et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.