NDRG1 Inhibition of Tumor Progression in Caco2 Cells

Abstract Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Invasiveness and migration are the main cause of death, and so there is a need to find a sensitive, reliable molecular marker that can predict the migration of colorectal cancer at an early stage. NDRG1 (N-myc Downstream Regulated Gene 1) has been reported to be a multifunctional gene that has a strong relationship with tumor invasion and migration, but theories about the current role of NDRG1 in colorectal cancer remains to be conclusively determined. Methods and Results: Through lentivirus infection and CRISPR/Cas9 methods, respectively, we established that NDRG1 stably overexpressed and knocked out Caco2 cell lines. CCK8(Cell Counting kit 8) data showed that NDRG1 inhibited Caco2 proliferation. Flow cytometry further confirmed that the cell cycle can be arrested at the G1/S phase when NDRG1 overexpresses, while the number of G2 phase cells significantly increased after NDRG1 was knocked out. This means that NDRG1 inhibited the proliferation of Caco2 cells by arresting the cell cycle in the G1/S phase. Our data also demonstrated that NDRG1 promotes early cell apoptosis. The strength of invasion and migration was decreased when NDRG1 overexpressed. Conclusions: Our results underline that NDRG1 inhibits tumor progression in Caco2 cells. These findings may provide a new potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of CRC.