Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of HMG-CoA2-ligase (HMGCL) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its effect on the behavior of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Methods The expression of HMGCL in 64 NPCs, 42 NNE tissues, 5 NPC cell lines (HK-1, CNE1, CNE2, HONE1, HNE-1) and normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells NP69 were detected by Western blot. Taken HK-1 cells as the research object to construct overexpressing HMGCL cells. MTT assay, Colony formation assay and Transwell assay were used to detect the proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of HK-1 cells after HMGCL overexpression. Results HMGCL was highly expressed in NNE and NP69 cells, and lower in NPC and NPC cell lines. HK-1 cells overexpressing HMGCL were successfully constructed. The ability of cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion were significantly reduced after overexpressing HMGCL. Conclusion The low expression of HMGCL in NPCs might be related to the malignant phenotype of NPC cells. This study provides a new target for inhibiting the progression of NPC in the future.

Key words: HMGCL, NPC, proliferation, metastasis