Effect of hypoxia on E-Cadherin, Cytokeratin and Vimentin in breast cancer cell MCF7

Objective To study the effect of hypoxia on breast cancer cell M CF 7 invasion through Matrigel and the underlying molecular mechanisms by regulatin g E-cadherin, cytokeratin and vimentin mRNA level in vitro. Methods We performe d in vitro Matrigel invasion assay to study MCF7 cell invasion under an imitated hypoxic condition and determined the mRNA level of E-Cadherin, Cytokeratin and Vimentin by RT-PCR. Results Hypoxia could significantly promote MCF7 cells to invade through Matrigel; in addition, E-cadherin was down-regulated while cyto keratin and vimentin were up-regulated under the hypoxic condition. Conclusion The aggressiveness of breast cancer cell MCF7 was related to the mRNA levels of E-cadherin, cytokeratin and vimentin under the hypoxic condition.