Down-regulation of surface fractalkine by RNA interference in B16 melanoma reduced tumor growth in mice

It is reported that membrane-bound form Of CX(3)CL1/fractalkine (FKN) promotes cell-cell adhesion by binding with its unique receptor CX(3)CR1, and membrane fractalkine works as an adhesion molecule for the communication between tumor cells and vascular endothelial cells. Here, we show that CX(3)CL1/fractalkine was expressed on both mouse and human solid tumors, and small interfering RNA-mediated knock down of fractalkine gene inhibited melanoma B16-170 cells growth in vivo, which was correlated to the decreased angiogenesis around the tumor. Our findings for the first time suggest that membrane fractalkine may possibly promote tumor angiogenesis through its strong cell adhesion function and therefore serves as a potential target of tumors therapy including RNA interference. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.