Downregulation of RASAL2 promotes the proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells.

RAS protein activator like 2 (RASAL2) is a RAS-GTPase-activating protein and has recently been identified to be a tumor suppressor in various types of human cancer; however, the function of RASAL2 in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remains unclear. In the present study, the function of RASAL2 in CRC cells was investigated using a RASAL2 loss-of-function cell model. RASAL2 short hairpin RNA was transfected into the human CRC cell lines LoVo, SW620 and HCT116, and the wild-type colon cell line NCM460. The subsequent downregulation of RASAL2 was evaluated using western blot and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses. It was observed that RASAL2 expression was significantly decreased in human CRC tissues and cell lines (P<0.01). In the loss-of-function cell models, RASAL2 expression was decreased significantly, while cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion were increased (all P<0.01). These effects were associated with the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase hyperactivation. The results of the present study indicate that RASAL2 is a potential therapeutic target to inhibit CRC progression and metastasis.