NRAGE suppresses metastasis of melanoma and pancreatic cancer in vitro and in vivo

We previously reported that human NRAGE could significantly alter the cellular skeleton and inhibit cell-cell adhesion, suggesting that human NRGAE play a potential role in cellular motility. Here, we report overexpression of human NRAGE in PANC-1 and B16-B16 cells could significantly suppress the metastasis of these cells in vitro and in vivo. Consistently, PANC-1 with stable silencing of NRAGE by RNA interference, exhibits a more metastatic phenotype than the native cell. Expression of epithelial proteins, including E-cadherin and beta-catenin is down regulated in siRNA-NRAGE PANG 1 cells. Further studies find that overexpression of human NRAGE suppresses the mRNA expression and activity of MMP2 significantly. Summary, our studies indicate for the first time that NRAGE could suppress metastasis of melanoma and pancreatic cancer probably through downregulation of MMP-2. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.