The aim of the study is to investigate whether knockdown of PKCε expression by RNA interference (RNAi) could affect the growth, apoptosis and invasion of human glioma cells, and the involvement of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) signaling pathway in these effects.
Clone formation, wound healing, and Borden assays showed that down-regulating PKCε by RNA interference resulted in inhibition of the growth, migration, and invasion of clear cell RCC cell line 769P and, more importantly, sensitized cells to chemotherapeutic drugs as indicated by enhanced activity of caspase-3 in PKCε siRNA-transfected cells.
The results indicate that PKCvarepsilon-mediated Stat3Ser727 phosphorylation is essential for constitutive activation of Stat3 and cell invasion in various human cancers.