The regulation of invasion and metastasis of human pancreatic cancer by pancreatic stellate cells via the HGF/c-Met pathway

Objective To investigate the regulation mechanism of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) on invasion and metastasis of human pancreatic cancer through the pathway of HGF/c-Met. Methods Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) level in PSCs supernatant was detected. PSCs supernatant, PSCs supernatant plus anti-HGF antibody, PSCs supernatant plus c-Met specific inhibitor PHA 665752 were used to treat human pancreatic cancer AsPC-1 cells, and untreated cells served as controls. MTT assay was applied to detect cell proliferation. Transwell chamber migration assay was employed to detect cell migration. In vitro invasion assay was used to determine cell invasion. Results The level of HGF in PSCs supernatant was (4 213±543)ng/L. A490 value for cell proliferation in PSCs supernatant, PSCs supernatant+ anti-HGF, PSCs supernatant+ c-Met inhibitor and control group were 0.628±0.030, 0.324±0.021, 0.347±0.054 and 0.405±0.008. The number of penetrating cells per 400 high power field was 123.3±6.8, 62.4±6.9, 58.1±2.2 and 36.6±4.8, respectively. The number of invasive cells per 400 high power field was 70.0±2.3, 42.5±4.6, 42.7±2.8 and 36.4±3.5. The proliferation, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer AsPC-1 cells in PSCs supernatant group were significantly higher than those in the control group(all P 0.05). Conclusions PSCs can promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer AsPC-1 cells via regulating HGF/c-Met pathway. Key words: Pancreatic neoplasms; Astrocytes; Hepatocyte growth factor; Proto-oncogene proteins c-Met