Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) in endometrial cancer and its effects on the proliferation, migration and invasion of endometrial cancer cells line HEC-1-A. Methods The expression level of FABP4 mRNA in endometrial cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues was detected with RT-qPCR. The correlation between FABP4 mRNA expression and pathological changes of endometrial cancer was analyzed. HEC-1-A cells were cultured in vitro and were randomly divided into control group, FABP4 negative control (si-NC) group and interference FABP4 (si-FABP4) group. RT-qPCR, MTT and Transwell assays were used respectively to detect the FABP4 mRNA expression in HEC-1-A cells, the proliferation, migration and invasion of HEC-1-A cells. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of FABP4, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 of HEC-1-A cells in each group. Results The expression level of FABP4 mRNA in endometrial cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in tissues adjacent to cancer (P＜0.05); The FABP4 mRNA expression was related to tumor TNM staging and lymph node metastasis (P＜0.05).Interference with FABP4 expression could significantly inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of endometrial cancer cells. Conclusions Expression of FABP4 is up-regulated in endometrial cancer and interference with FABP4 expression can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of endometrial cancer cells.

Key words: fatty acid binding protein 4, endometrial carcinoma, proliferation, migration, invasion