OBJECTIVETo study the influence of Kai1/CD82 transfection on the growth, adherence, separation and invasion potential of LoVo colon carcinoma cell line.

METHODSKai1/CD82 cDNA was transfected into LoVo cells, and a stable expressing clone was established. In vitro methodology was used to obtain the growth curve and also to detect the adherence, separation and invasion potential of the transfected LoVo cells, in comparison with those of control cells without transfection.

RESULTSCompared with the control, no change was observed in the growth pattern of transfected LoVo cells. The numbers of adherent cells in the two groups were 0.08, 0.63, 0.83, 0.91 (x 10(5)) for the transfected cells and 0.04, 0.48, 0.71, 0.82 (x 10(5)) for the control cells respectively after 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes culture with shaking. The difference at 20, 30 and 40 minutes was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The separation rates of each group were 13%, 20%, 53% for the transfected cells and 11%, 28%, 60% for the control cells, respectively after 5, 10, 15 minutes culture with shaking. The difference at 10 and 15 minutes was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The aggregation rate of the transfected cells was higher than that of the control cells after culture with mild shaking for 5 hours (64.8% vs. 58.6%, P < 0.05). After co-incubation with endothelium cells ECV304, the number of invading cells decreased more in the transfected cells than that in the control cells (6.33/field and 17.67/field, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTransfection expression of Kail/CD82 into LoVo cell line results in an increase of cell adherence and aggregation, but a diminished capability of separation and invasion, suggesting that the expression of Kai1/CD82 gene may inhibit the metastatic potential of colon carcinoma.