Effects of PTTG down-regulation on proliferation and metastasis of the SCL-1 cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cell line.

AIMS To study effects of down-regulation of pituitary tumor-transforming gene (PTTG) on proliferation and metastasis ability of the SCL-1 cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) cell line and explore related mechanisms. METHODS SCL-1 cells were divided into 3 groups (untreated, siRNA control and PTTG siRNA). Cell proliferation assays were performed using a CCK-8 kit and proliferation and metastasis ability were analyzed using Boyden chambers. In addition, expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was detected by r-time qPCR and Western blotting. RESULTS Down-regulation of PTTG could markedly inhibit cell proliferation in SCL-1 cells, compared to untreated and control siRNA groups (P < 0.05). Real-time qPCR demonstrated that expression levels of PTTG, MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the PTTG siRNA group were 0.8%, 23.2% and 21.3% of untreated levels. Western blotting revealed that expression of PTTG, MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins in the PTTG siRNA group was obviously down-regulated. The numbers of migrating cells (51.38 ± 4.71) in the PTTG siRNA group was obviously lower than that in untreated group (131.33 ± 6.12) and the control siRNA group (127.72 ± 5.20) (P < 0.05), suggesting that decrease of proliferation and metastasis ability mediated by PTTG knock-down may be closely correlated with down-regulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. CONCLUSION Inhibition of PTTG expression may be a new target for therapy of CSCC.