Aquaporin 5 promotes tumor migration and angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer cell line H1299

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes the majority of all lung-cancer cases. Aquaporin 5 (AQP5) may be involved in NSCLC by promoting lung-cancer initiation and progression. The present study aimed to determine the role of AQP5 in migration and angiogenesis using NSCLC cells and HUVECs. AQPs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9 were screened in the NSCLC cell line H1299, and the present results showed that AQP5 mRNA was upregulated compared with the other AQP genes. At the protein level, AQP5 was significantly increased in H1299 cells compared with 16HBE cells. AQP5 knockdown in H1299 cells significantly decreased cell migration compared with untransfected cells, as demonstrated by both Transwell and wound closure assays. The present study further investigated H1299 ability to promote HUVEC vascularisation. The supernatants of both transfected and untransfected H1299 cells were used as conditioned medium for HUVECs, and tube formation was measured. The supernatant of AQP5-downregulated cells exhibited significantly low tube formation potential compared with untransfected cells. Similarly, vascular endothelial growth factor was significantly increased in control cells (si-NC) compared with cells transfected with small interfering RNA targeting AQP5. The present study found that AQP5 downregulation significantly decreased the phosphorylation level of epidermal growth factor receptor and the activity of the ERK1/2 pathway. In summary, the present study suggested that AQP5 influenced migration and angiogenesis in NSCLCs in vitro and may potentially exhibit similar in vivo effects.