Abstract Apurinic and apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1)/redox effector factor-1 (Ref-1) is known to be involved in DNA base excision repair pathway and redox-dependent regulation of a number of transcription factors, such as AP1, p53, and Pax-8. It is expressed in numerous human cancers such as pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer. Our previous studies suggested APE1/Ref-1 can promote cancer progression through its involvement in cell proliferation, metastasis and angiogenesis; however, the molecular mechanism by which APE1/Ref-1 functions in these processes has not been characterized. In this study, we are the first to report that APE1/Ref-1 activates cell adhesion-related proteins to trigger cell migration. To investigate whether APE1/Ref-1 is involved in cell adhesion in normal fibroblasts, an adhesion assay was performed using GM00637 human fibroblast cell lines stably overexpressing APE1/Ref-1. Cell adhesion to vitronectin, a known ligand of the adhesion molecules integrin ανβ3 and integrin ανβ5, was significantly increased in APE1/Ref-1-overexpressing GM00637 cells compared to control fibroblast cells. FACS analysis showed APE1/Ref-1 induces the expression and activation of adhesion molecules including integrin αν and β3 in APE/Ref-1-overexpressing GM00637 cells. To evaluate whether APE1/Ref-1-mediated regulation of integrin ανβ3 is involved in cell migration in cervical cancer cells, a migration assay was performed using APE1/Ref-1-specific siRNA and an integrin ανβ3-specific antibody. Cell migration was significantly decreased in the absence of APE1/Ref-1 expression in cervical cancer cells, which was comparable with inhibition of integrin ανβ3. Consistent with these results, APE1/Ref-1 increased the activation and expression of integrin ανβ3 in both cervical cancer cells and cervical cancer patient tissue. Combined, these studies suggest that APE/Ref-1 can promote cell adhesion and migration through integrin ανβ3 signaling and thereby this signaling mechanism could contribute to cervical cancer progression. Citation Format: Mihwa Kim, Ho Jin You, Dae Joon Kim. APE1/Ref-1 promotes cell adhesion and migration in cervical cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5097. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5097