Effect of X-ray irradiation on epithelial-mesenchymal transition of colorectal cancer SW480 cells.

This study was carried out to explore the effect of X-ray irradiation on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of colorectal cancer SW480 cells. Human colorectal cancer SW480 cells used in this study were irradiated by X-rays in 0 Gy, 4 Gy and 8 Gy doses, respectively. Transwell method was adopted to detect the changes of invasion and migration ability of SW480 cells cultured for 24 h after being irradiated by X-rays in 0 Gy, 4 Gy and 8 Gy doses. After X-ray irradiation, invasion ability of cells in 4 Gy dose group and 8 Gy dose group strengthened significantly compared with that of the 0 Gy dose group (p < 0.05); invasion ability of cells in 8 Gy dose group also strengthened significantly compared to the 4 Gy dose group (p < 0.05). After X-ray irradiation, migration ability of cells also changed: migration ability of cells in 4 Gy dose group and 8 Gy dose group strengthened significantly compared with that of the 0 Gy group (p less than 0.05). Results of QRT-RCR and Western blot detection showed that after X-ray irradiation, the expression of epithelial index E-cadherin in 4 Gy dose group and 8 Gy dose group decreased significantly compared with that of the 0 Gy dose group (p < 0.05); moreover, the higher the dose was, the more significantly the expression decreased. Therefore, X-ray irradiation-induced EMT is in positive correlation with the irradiation dose to some extent. Besides, X-ray irradiation can enhance the invasion and migration ability of human colorectal cancer cells.