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Inhibition of Tumor Cell Migration and Invasion Through Knockdown of Rac1 Expression in Medulloblastoma Cells

Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology volume 31, pages 251–257 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Medulloblastoma is one of the common malignant brain tumors in children or young adults and its overall disease-free 5-year survival rate is approximately 50% due to tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis. This study aimed to determine whether one of Rho GTPases, Rac1 can affect the morphology, motility, and invasion of medulloblastoma cells through knockdown of Rac1 expression. Medulloblastoma Daoy cells were used to manipulate Rac1 expression using Rac1 shRNA, Rac1N17, and Rac1L61 constructs. Reverse transcriptase-PCR and western blot were used to detect expression of Rac1 mRNA and protein, respectively. Invasion and migration assays were performed to assess invasion and migration capacity of Daoy cells, respectively. The data showed that Rac1 mRNA and protein were overexpressed in Daoy cells. Deletion of Rac1 decreased the cross-linked actin network and pseudopodia and also inhibited the number of migration cells migrated or invaded to the other side of the filter compared to control cells. These data indicated that the invasion and migration in Daoy cells were inhibited by deletion of Rac1, and suggest that targeting Rac1 by Rac1 shRNA may further be evaluated and used as a potential anticancer strategy to treat medulloblastoma.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by grants from the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No. 30672167), Funds for Key Sci-Tech Research Projects of Guangdong Province [YUECAIJIAO (2008) 258-2008A030201019, YUE KEJIBAN (2007) 05/06-7005206], Key Sci-Tech Research Projects of Guangzhou [SUIKETIAOZI (2008)3-2008A1-E4011-6, 09B52120112], and from Medical Scientific Foundation of Guangdong province, China (No. A2009599).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510282, China

    Baodong Chen, Ruxiang Xu & Xiaodan Jiang

  2. Neurosurgery Institute, Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration of Guangdong, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510282, China

    Baodong Chen, Ruxiang Xu & Xiaodan Jiang

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, The Second people’s Hospital in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518035, Guangdong, China

    Baodong Chen, Yongzhong Gao, Taipeng Jiang & Jianjun Ding

  4. Biomechanics and Medical Information Institute, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100022, China

    Yanjun Zeng

  5. Department of Neurosurgery, Military General Hospital of Beijing PLA, Beijing, 100700, China

    Ruxiang Xu

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  1. Baodong Chen
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  2. Yongzhong Gao
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  3. Taipeng Jiang
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  4. Jianjun Ding
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  5. Yanjun Zeng
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  6. Ruxiang Xu
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  7. Xiaodan Jiang
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Correspondence to Ruxiang Xu or Xiaodan Jiang.

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Chen, B., Gao, Y., Jiang, T. et al. Inhibition of Tumor Cell Migration and Invasion Through Knockdown of Rac1 Expression in Medulloblastoma Cells. Cell Mol Neurobiol 31, 251–257 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-010-9615-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-010-9615-8

Keywords

  • Rac1
  • Medulloblastoma
  • Invasion
  • RNA interfering