Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Methods to Study Mrp4-containing Macromolecular Complexes in the Regulation of Fibroblast Migration
Published on: May 19, 2016
PACE4 regulates proliferation, migration and invasion in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells
Feifei Wang1, Lin Wang1, Jihong Pan1
1Shandong Medicinal and Biotechnology Center, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250062, P.R. China.
Abstract:
PACE4 is one of the proprotein convertases (PC) that participate in the post-translational activation of inactive proteins, leading to mature, biologically active proteins. The processing reactions occur in pairs of basic amino acids. PACE4 is an extracellular PC that binds to growth factors and several components of the extracellular matrix contributing to tumor progression. In the present study, the PACE4 gene was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA), and the knockdown human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells showed significantly reduced proliferation, migration and invasion rates. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that downregulation of PACE4 increases the percentage of cells arrested at the G0/G1 phase. Moreover, the expression of genes involved in cell growth, invasion and adhesion, i.e., IGF-2, MMP9 and MPZL2 was significantly decreased following siRNA-mediated silencing of PACE4. Taken together, these results indicate that PACE4 plays an important role in human breast cancer, and that it might represent a novel target for breast cancer therapy.
Related Concept Videos
Abnormal Proliferation
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
Inhibition of Cdk Activity
Molecular Factors Affecting Cell Division
Several proteins function as internal regulators to ensure each cell cycle stage is completed faithfully before proceeding to the next. Regulator molecules may act directly or influence the activity or production of other...

