[Effect of HAI-1 over-expression on in vitro growth and migration/motility of SW620 cells].

Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 1 (HAI-1) is an effective inhibitor for hepatocyte growth factor activator (HGFA) and serine protease Matriptase, and is involved in HGF/c-Met signaling pathway by regulating activities of HGFA and Matriptase. In an attempt to elucidate the roles HAI-1 play in tumor cell growth and migration, we subcloned full length cDNA of human HAI-1 into mammalian expression vector pcDNA3.1 (+), and transfected the construct into human colorectal cancer cell SW620. The expression of HAI-1 in transfected SW620 cells was demonstrated by Western blot. Growth curve determination, soft-agar colony formation assay, trans-membrane migration assay and wound-healing cell motility assay were used to evaluate the effects of over-expression of HAI-1 on cell growth and migration/motility. Both of the growth curve and soft-agar colony formation assays showed that there were no significant differences of growth of HAI-1-transfected cells when compared with the control groups. Trans-membrane migration assay and wound-healing motility assay showed significant inhibition of cell migration/motility ability by the over-expressed HAI-1. Our data suggest that over-expression of HAI-1 in SW620 cells has weak effect on cell growth in vitro, but can significantly inhibit cell migration/motility.