Silencing of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibits the growth, invasion and migration of ovarian cancer cells.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of downregulating cyclooxygenase‑2 (COX‑2) expression on the growth of human ovarian cancer cells. The COX‑2‑specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) plasmid vector was constructed and then transfected into ovarian cancer cells. The expression of COX‑2 mRNA and protein was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle distribution and cell migration were assessed following knockdown of COX‑2 by RNA interference (RNAi). Western blot analysis was used to identify differentially expressed angiogenesis- and cell cycle‑associated proteins in cells with silenced COX‑2. The expression levels of COX‑2 in ovarian cancer cells transfected with siRNA were decreased, leading to a significant inhibition of ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Western blot analysis revealed that silencing of COX‑2 may inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9 protein expression. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that RNAi can effectively silence COX‑2 gene expression and inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells, which indicates that there is a potential of targeting COX‑2 as a novel gene therapy approach for the treatment of ovarian cancer.