Aquaporin-3 positively regulates matrix metalloproteinases via PI3K/AKT signal pathway in human gastric carcinoma SGC7901 cells

BACKGROUND: matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are produced by tumor cells, so they may be associated with tumor progression including invasion, migration, angiogenesis and metastasis. Aquaporin-3 (AQP3) also plays a critical role in gastric cancer cell migration and proliferation. METHODS: In this study, AQP3 was silenced or over-expressed in SGC7901 cells. RESULTS: We found a significant decrease in MT1-MMP, MMP-2, and MMP-9 expression after AQP3 knockdown, and a significant increase in MT1-MMP, MMP-2, and MMP-9 expression after AQP3 over-expression in SGC7901 cells. We also found that AQP3 silence led to a significant decrease of phosphorylation of ser473 in AKT in SGC7901 cells. CONCLUSION: Our findings showed that AQP3 might positively regulate MMPs proteins expression through PI3K/AKT signal pathway in human gastric carcinoma SGC7901 cells.