Short hairpin RNA-mediated silencing of APRIL gene inhibits proliferation and metastasis of human colon carcinoma SW480 cells in vitro

Objective To study the influence of short hairpin RNA-mediated inhibition of APRIL gene on proliferation,invasion and metastasis of human colon carcinoma SW480 ceils in vitro. Methods After treatment with shRNA, the expression level of APRIL protein in human colon carcinoma SW480 cells was detected by western blotting. And cell adhesion, cell migration and cell invasion of SW480 cells transfected with sh637 were analyzed respectively as compared with non-transfected SW480 cells and mocktransfectant. Results The expression of APRIL protein in SW480 transfected with sh637 were significantly lower than mock-plasmid groups and untransfected ones (F=42.15, P=0.00). Cell proliferation was markedly inhibited, compared with untransfected groups and negative control ones (F=24.76, P<0.05).And the average absorption of cell adhesion in transfected groups, mock-plasmid and non-transfected ones were 0.343, 0.409, 0.412, respectively. Cell adhesion decreased 39% compared with untransfected groups. Similarly, there was significant difference for cell migration (F=65.53, P<0.01) between transfected groups (The average ceil number in exposed area to migrate was 47.89±13.16) and nontransfected (98.78±23.26) as well as mock-plasmid ones (108.01±39.11). Then, in view of the average absorption of cell invasion between transfected groups(0.58±0.10) and non-transfected (0.94±0.23) as well as mock-plasmid ones(1.11±0.21), a prominently difference for cell invasion was also found between them (F=5.771, P<0.05). Conclusion The results suggest APRIL has a proliferation-inducing effect and probably be involved in cell invasion and cell metastasis of colon carcinoma and it could enhance capacity of invasion and metastasis of SW480 cells. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms;  Membrane proteins;  Tumor necrosis factors;  RNA interference;  Cell proliferation;  Neoplasm metastasis