Moreover, the upregulation of MMP9 rescued the decreased migration and invasion induced by the knockdown of IFITM3, whereas the knockdown of MMP9 decreased IFITM3-enhanced HCC migration and invasion.
We determined that IFITM3 was upregulated and miR‑29a downregulated in HCC tissues and that they were associated with HCC tumor size, tumor multifocal, and venous invasion.
Knockdown of IFITM3 expression by a specific siRNA significantly suppressed the proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion of colon cancer cells in vitro and tumor growth and metastasis in a xenograft model.
This work has shown for the first time that IFITM3 physically interacts with OPN and reduces OPN mRNA expression, which mediates cell adhesion, cell invasion, colony formation in soft agar and metastasis in a rat model system.