Objective  To clarify the effect of serine proteinase inhibitor family-E member1 (SERPINE1) on matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9) and matrix metallopeptidase-2 (MMP-2) during colon cancer metastasis.

Methods  Lentiviral vectors for overexpression and interference of SERPINE1 were constructed and then transfected into colon cancer cells. The relationship between the expression of SERPINE1 and that of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in colon cancer was analyzed by RNA-RNA co-expression in the starBase database, and the effect of SERPINE1 on the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was validated by Western Blot experiment. Finally, the effect of SERPINE1 on the metastasis of colon cancer cells was evaluated by wound healing assay and Transwell experiments.

Results  Lentiviral vectors for SERPINE1 overexpression and interference expression were successfully constructed. Through RNA-RNA co-expression analysis of starBase database, it was found that the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in colon cancer was significantly positively correlated with the expression of SERPINE1 (P<0.01, with r values being 0.467 and 0.664, respectively). Western Blot experiments found that the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in cells in the SERPINE1 overexpression group was higher than the control group; conversely, the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in the cells in the SERPINE1 interference expression group was lower than the control group. ImageJ software was used for relative quantitative analysis of gray value, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). In RKO and LoVo cells, the migration and invasion abilities of cells were enhanced after SERPINE1 overexpression (P<0.01); conversely, the migration and invasion abilities of cells were weakened after interference with SERPINE1 expression (P<0.05).

Conclusion  SERPINE1 may regulate the metastasis of colon cancer cells through the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2.

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