Objective To detect the expression of Chemokine receptor CXCR6 in invasive breast cancer cell lines and normal mammary epithelial cell line, and assess the relationship between CXCR6 expression and malignant behavior of breast cancer cells. Methods Expression level of CXCR6 in different invasive breast cancer cell lines（SK-BR-3、MCF-7、MDA-MB-231） and normal mammary epithelial cell line （MCF-10A）was detected by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real time-PCR) and Western blot. Lentivirus was employed to interfere CXCR6 expression in MDA-MB-231. MTT assay and transwell chamber were used to study proliferative and invasive ability of those cells respectively. Vascular enothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was detected to study the role of CXCR6 in angiogenesis. Results At both mRNA level and protein level, normal mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A showed the weakest CXCR6 expression. The breast cancer cell lines expressed CXCR6 in different levels, the expression level of CXCR6 in highly invasive cell line MDA-MB-231 was significantly higher than that in two low-invasive cell lines SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 (P<0.05). Silencing CXCR6 gene by Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference in MDA-MB-231 inhibited its proliferation ability, invasion ability and angiogenesis ability (in vitro (P<0.05). Conclusion Different invasive breast cancer cell lines express CXCR6 at different levels, positively correlated with its invasive ability.
