Purpose: To investigate the roles of DDR2 and IFITM1 in breast cancer (BC).
Methods: The expression of DDR2 and IFITM1 in BC tissues and cell lines was measured. DDR2 and/or IFITM1 were knocked down in BT20 and MDA-MB-231 cells, after which the viability, mobility and apoptosis of the cells were tested. Xenograft mouse models were established through subcutaneous tumor transplantation.
Results: DDR2 and IFITM1 were highly expressed in invasive BC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of DDR2 and/or IFITM1 was associated with poorer clinical outcomes and patient survival. Knockdown of DDR2 or IFITM1 suppressed the viability and invasiveness of BT20 and MDA-MB-231 cells and restrained the growth of xenograft tumors in nude mice. Simultaneous knockdown of IFITM1 and DDR2 surpassed knockdown of IFITM1 alone in suppressing BC development.
Conclusions: DDR2 and IFITM1 are co-expressed to facilitate the malignant behaviors of BC cells and promote the development of tumors.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Breast cancer; DDR2; IFITM1; Invasion; Migration; Proliferation.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.