Neuropilin-1 down-regulation impairs cell migration and induces the differentiation of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cells

Objective Our previous study demonstrated that neuropilin-1 is useful for the prognosis of tongue squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of neuropilin-1 in the differentiation of tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Forty primary tongue squamous cell carcinoma samples were subjected to immunostaining for neuropilin-1. The relationship between neuropilin-1 expression and differentiation was analysed. A specific small hairpin ribonucleic acid (shRNA) targeting neuropilin-1 was transfected into the tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line squamous cell carcinoma-25 to knockdown neuropilin-1 expression. Scratch and transwell assays were performed to examine the cell migration and invasion ability after neuropilin-1 was knockeddown. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the efficiency