Chemokine receptor 4 gene silencing blocks neuroblastoma metastasis in vitro.

This study investigated the effects of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated silencing of chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) on the invasion capacity of human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y in vitro. Three siRNAs targeting CXCR4 were chemically synthesized and individually transfected into SH-SY5Y cells. Expression of CXCR4 mRNA and protein was significantly suppressed in transfected cells by all three sequence-specific siRNAs compared with control groups. Furthermore, the invasion capacity of SH-SY5Y cells was significantly decreased following transfection with CXCR4-specific siRNA compared with the control groups. These data demonstrate that down-regulation of CXCR4 can inhibit in vitro invasion of neuroblastoma.