Knockdown of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) in cervical cancer cells decreases their invasiveness, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and chemoresistance

During cancer development, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) facilitates tumor dissemination and metastatic spread, which is characterized by morphologic changes from epithelial cells to fibroblast-like cells, disassembly of intercellular junction, and increased cell motility. Overexpression of astrocyte elevated gene-1(AEG-1) in various cancer cell lines and cancers has been found to be associated with aggressive tumor behavior. We found that AEG-1 expression was elevated in low differentiation cervical cancer specimens from patients. However, little is known about the AEG-1's precise role in invasion and metastasis. Here we demonstrate that downregulation of AEG-1 by RNAi significantly decreased the invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells, suggesting that AEG-1 overexpression may enhance cancer cell motility by inducing EMT. Downregulation of AEG-1 also led to reduced expression of mesenchymal marker vimentin and the transcription factor Snail but upregulation of epithelial marker E-cadherin in HeLa cells. In addition, knockdown of AEG-1 decreased colony forming units and increased sensitivity to cancer drugs in vitro. Taken together, our results suggest that knockdown of AEG-1 could decrease EMT and chemoresistance in cervical cancer cells and attenuate their aggressive behavior.