OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of integrin α2β1 on invasion and migration of SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells.METHODS: Neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cell line was cultured in the modified eagle's medium. The effects of monoclonal antibodies to integrin α2 and integrin β1 on migration and invasion were measured by inclined test and polycarbonate filters incorporated in modified Transwell chambers respectively．The migration and invasion cells were stained with Gimsa staining and counted under a 200 multiplied microscope. The blocking rate of migration and invasion of cells was calculated.RESULTS: The number of migrated SK-N-SH cells in the anti-α2 and anti-β1 treatment groups (50.9±10.5 and 54.3±9.0 respectively) was significantly less than that in the control group without monoclonal antibody treatment (98.1±7.4) (P<0.01), with a blocking rate of cell migration of 48.1% and 44.5% respectively. The invasion to matrigel of SK-N-SH cells exposed monoclonal antibodies to integrin α2 and integrin β1 was significantly blocked compared with the control SK-N-SH cells, with the number of invasion cells in the anti-α2 and anti-β1 treatment groups of 25.3 ± 4.4 and 18.8 ± 3.9 respectively vs 41.5 ± 4.8 in the control group (P<0.01). The blocking rate of cell invasion in the anti-α2 and anti-β1 treatment groups was 39.0% and 54.7% respectively.CONCLUSIONS: Integrin α2β1 may promote migration and invasion of neuroblastoma cells.