Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the expression of GTPase protein Ras-related protein Rap-2a (Rap2A) in breast cancer (BC). Furthermore, the associations of Rap2A with clinicopathological parameters of BC patients were investigated.
Patients and methods: quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to examine Rap2A expression in BC tissues and cells. The association between Rap2A expression and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed by Chi-square test. Low expression of Rap2A in BC cells was conducted by transfection of small interfering RNA (siRNA). Subsequently, colony formation assay and transwell assay were used to detect the proliferation and invasion abilities of BC cells, respectively.
Results: Rap2A was highly expressed in both BC tissues and cells (p<0.05). Further analysis showed that tumor size, clinical stage, and distant metastasis were correlated with Rap2A expression (p<0.05). Besides, inhibition of Rap2A significantly decreased the proliferation and invasion abilities of BC cells (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Rap2A acted as a promotor in the development of BC. Our findings suggested that Rap2A might be a new potential therapeutic target marker for BC treatment.