Abstract:

Objective To explore the effect of apoptosis⁃inducing factor mitochondria associated 3（AIFM3） on colorectal cancer cells and its mechanism. Methods The relationship between the expression of AIFM3 and the tissue type and prognosis of colorectal cancer was detected bybio⁃informatics and verified by immunohistochemistry. We knockdown the expression of AIFM3 in cell lines HCT116 and SW620 by lentivirus. The silencing effect of AIFM3 gene was verified by Western blot，the proliferation ability of cells was detected by CCK8 experiment and plate cloning experiment，and the migration ability of cells was detected by transwell migration assay. Results The expression of AIFM3 in colorectal cancer was lower than that in adjacent tissues，and its expression was related to the prognosis of colorectal cancer；knockdown of AIFM3 could significantly inhibit the proliferation and migration of HCT116 and SW620 cells. GSEA analysis showed that there was a correlation between AIFM3 and STAT3 signal pathway. Western blot showed that the protein expression levels of STAT3 and p⁃STAT3 were significantly up⁃regu⁃ lated after knockdown of aifm3. Conclusions The expression of aifm3 was significantly down regulated in colorectal cancer. Knockdown the expression of aifm3 in HCT116 and SW620 cells could increase cell proliferation and migra⁃ tion，and its mechanism may be related to STAT3 signaling pathway.

Key words:

colorectal cancer, AIFM3, cell proliferation