Silencing SATB1 with siRNA inhibits the proliferation and invasion of small cell lung cancer cells

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a special kind of lung cancers, lymph or blood metastasis of SCLC usually occurs in early stage. Studies in breast and colon cancer showed over expression of SATB1 could promote tumor cell growth and inhibit apoptosis. Therefore, we studied the expression of SATB1 in SCLC. Methods: The level of SATB1 was analyzed in SCLC tissues, metastatic lymphoid nodes and adjacent normal lung tissues by immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, small interfering SATB1-targeting RNA was constructed and transfected into human SCLC cell line NCI-H446 to evaluate the effects of SATB1-siRNA on cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis. Result: SATB1 protein was overexpressed in SCLC tissues and metastasis lymphoid nodes compared with adjacent normal lung tissues. Compared with control group, SATB1-siRNA inhibits the proliferation and invasion of SCLC cells and induces SCLC cells apoptosis statistically (P<0.05) in vitro. Conclusion: Our results suggest that SATB1 plays an important role in the metastasis of human SCLC cell.