Involvement of autocrine CXCL12/CXCR4 system in the regulation of ovarian carcinoma cell invasion

► (−)-DHMEQ, a specific inhibitor of NF-κB, inhibited invasion in vitro and the expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4. ► A neutralizing antibody against CXCR4 or knockdown of CXCR4 suppressed the invasion. ► CXCR4-siRNA treatment lowered the secretion of several invasion-related proteins, such as MMP-9 and uPA.