Objective:Earlymetastasisisamajorbiologicalfeatureofpancreaticcancer.ThecurrentstudyexaminedwhethersilencingSlc38a1,ageneinvolvedinenergymetabolism,usingshorthairpinRNA(shRNA)couldinhibitthegrowth,migration,andinvasivenessofpancreaticcancercells.Methods:AseriesofSlc38a1shRNAsweredesignedandclonedintothepGPU6/GFP/Neovectors.AnshRNAwiththemostefficaciousinhibitoryactiononSCL38A1expression(65%inhibition)uponscreeninginDH5αbacteriawasusedtotransfectSW1990humanpancreaticcancercells.Cellgrowth,migration,andinvasivenesswereexaminedusingcellcountingkit-8,BoydenchamberwithoutandwithMatrigel,respectively.Results:TransfectionofSW1990cellswiththeSLCs38A1shRNAsignificantlydecreasedtheproliferation(P<0.0001)andmigratorypotential(by46.7%,P=0.0399)ofthecancercells.Invasiveness,however,wasnotaffected.Conclusions:InhibitingSlc38a1usingshRNAtechnologycoulddecreasethegrowthandmigrationofrepresentativepancreaticcancercells.However,thefactthatinvasivenesswasnotaffectedsuggestedthatSLC38A1isunlikelytoberesponsibleforearlymetastasis.
