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 proliferationand metastasis ability of the SCL-1 cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) cell line and explore relatedmechanisms.
Methods: SCL-1 cells were divided into 3 groups (untreated, siRNA control and PTTG siRNA). Cellproliferation assays were performed using a CCK-8 kit and proliferation and metastasis ability were analyzedusing Boyden chambers. In addition, expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was detected by r-time qPCR andWestern 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 expressionlevels of PTTG, MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the PTTG siRNA group were 0.8%, 23.2% and 21.3% of untreatedlevels. Western blotting revealed that expression of PTTG, MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins in the PTTG siRNAgroup was obviously down-regulated. The numbers of migrating cells (51.38±4.71) in the PTTG siRNA groupwas 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 maybe closely correlated with down-regulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression.
Conclusion: Inhibition of PTTGexpression may be a new target for therapy of CSCC.