Overexpression of ErbB2 promotes growth and invasion in MCF-7 cells in vitro

AIM: To investigate the effects of ErbB2 overexpression on growth and invasiveness in cultured MCF-7 cell line. METHODS: Retrovirus containing ErbB2 gene was transfected into MCF-7 cells and ErbB2 expression was detected by Western blotting. Proliferation and invasive assays were carried out. Cells overexpressed ErbB2 and its control, AP2, were used in the experiment. RESULTS: ErbB2 was overexpressed in MCF-7 cells after transfection. In vitro, cells overexpressed ErbB2 showed highly proliferated and highly invasive characteristics compared to the control cells. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of ErbB2 promotes cell proliferation and enhances invasiveness in MCF-7 cells. Inhibition of signaling induced by ErbB2 might be a novel strategy for the therapeutics of cancer with ErbB2 overexpression.