OBJECTIVE To study the effect of the Twist gene on themigration of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and thepossible mechanisms involved.METHODS RT-PCR was used to detect expression of the Twistgene in primary (Hepl1) and recurrent (Hep12) cell lines fromthe same HCC patient.Hepll cells were stably transfected withTwist-cDNA,and Hep12 cells were transiently transfected withTwist RNAi plasmid.Cell migration assays were performed onTwist up-regulated Hepll cells and Twist RNAi Hep12 cells.RTPCRand Western blot were used to test the expression of EMTmarkers.RESULTS Twist was expressed higher level and had increasedmigration capability in recurrent Hep12 cells than those in primaryHepll cells.Cell models (Twist-Hep1l) in which Twist proteinwas steadily and highly expressed were obtained.Compared withpcDNA3-Hepll cells,migration of Twist-Hepll cells was clearlyincreased.However,migration of Twist RNAi (Si-Twist-Hepl2)Hep12 cells were reduced.Overexpression of Twist in Hep11 cellspromoted expression of N-cad and vimentin.CONCLUSION These results indicate that Twist promotes themigration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and may playan important role in the upregulation of mesenchymal markers.
