Knockdown of TPPP3 to inhibit cell proliferation and invasion in human colorectal cancer.

e23006 Background: Tubulin Polymerization Promoting Protein Family Member 3, TPPP3, a member of the TPPP protein family, has been reported to play important roles in initiation and progression of human cancers, such as lung cancer. However, the expression and underlying function of TPPP3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) have not yet been fully clarified. Methods: In this study, the mRNA and protein levels of TPPP3 in 96 clinical CRC specimens were determined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. The relation between TPPP3 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. TPPP3 was stably knockdowned by shRNA. In addition, CCK-8、Colony formation、Flow cytometric、Transwell and Angiogenesis assay were to examine the biological function of TPPP3 in CRC cells in vitro. Results: We show that TPPP3 was significantly increased in CRC tissues and associated with aggressive factors and poor patient survival. Further experiments showed that knockdown of TPPP3 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion and induced cell apoptosis in vitro. In addition, TPPP3 silencing resulted in a decrease of angiogenesis and S phase fraction. And TPPP3 significantly affected the invasion and migration of CRC cells via the expression of MMP-9, Rac-1 and E-cadherin. Conclusions: Our results suggested that TPPP3 played an important role in CRC progress and might serve as novel therapeutic targets for CRC treatment.