In vitro experiments demonstrated that knockdown of MSX2 expression attenuated cell proliferation and invasion, promoted cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and inactivated Akt phosphorylation.
These results suggest that Msx2 may play a significant role in promoting EMT in epithelial cells that acquire properties involved in tumor invasion.J.Cell.Physiol.219: 659-666, 2009.Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Immunohistochemistry of human pancreatic carcinoma tissue revealed that MSX2 was frequently expressed in cancer cells, and that increased expression of MSX2 significantly correlated with higher tumor grade, vascular invasion, and Twist 1 expression.
In this study, we showed that 1-furan-2-yl-3-pyridin-2-yl-propenone (FPP-3) dose-dependently inhibited HT1080 cell invasion and migration, and decreased MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities.