Panoply™ Human ACVR2A Knockdown Stable Cell Line

Activin A receptor type 2A (ACVR2A) is a membrane receptor in the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway, involved in regulating cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. Here, researchers examined the expression profile and biological function of ACVR2A in colon cancer. In the GSE39582 database, ACVR2A mRNA expression was identified as a prognostic factor by linear regression analysis. In a validation cohort of 15 patients with stage IV cancer, ACVR2A mRNA expression was significantly decreased in metastatic lesions and primary tumors compared with adjacent normal controls. In another tissue microarray (TMA) validation cohort of 193 cases, decreased ACVR2A protein expression was associated with advanced N stage and positive lymphovascular invasion. A strong correlation between low ACVR2A mRNA or protein expression and poor survival was also observed in both the GSE39582 database and the TMA validation cohort. Furthermore, in vitro studies demonstrated significantly increased cell migration in ACVR2A knockdown cells. These findings suggest that loss of ACVR2A plays an important role in cancer progression and distant metastasis and may serve as a prognostic marker for patients with colon cancer.

To evaluate the biological function of ACVR2A in colon cancer, the researchers generated stable ACVR2A knockdown RKO and HCT116 cell lines (Figures 1a and b). The results showed that ACVR2A knockdown did not affect colon cancer cell proliferation (Figure 1c). Next, they used Transwell assays to investigate whether ACVR2A knockdown affected colon cancer cell migration. The results showed that the number of migrating cells increased two- to three-fold in the ACVR2A knockdown cell lines compared to the control group (Figure 1d).

Figure 1. Silencing of ACVR2A expression promotes the migration of human colon cancer cells. (Zhuo C, et al., 2018)