CD151 up-regulation contributes to the invasion of pituitary adenomas.

CD151 is up-regulated in several types of tumors and is involved in tumor invasion and metastasis. However, the potential role of CD151 in pituitary adenomas remains unclear. Here, we performed quantitative real-time PCR and immunochemistry to measure the expression levels of CD151 in samples of pituitary adenomas and investigated the effects of CD151 knock-down on tumor phenotypes in the HP75 pituitary adenoma cell line. We found that, compared to normal pituitary tissues, CD151 expression is increased in non-invasive pituitary adenomas and further increased in invasive pituitary adenomas. CD151 knock-down inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, clone formation, tumor development, and promoted apoptosis in the pituitary adenoma cell line. Our results fully support that CD151 plays an important role in promoting invasion and aggression of pituitary adenomas and thus might be a therapeutic target.