Abstract: Objective To study the role of USP22 and its target-controlled TIMP-2 on invasion of human colorectal carcinoma cells (CRC). Methods The expression of USP22 in CRC cells was detected by western blot. SW480 cells were chosen for further experiments because of USP22 high expression. The SW480 cells were categoried into transfected group and control group (NC siRNA). The expression of Hif-1α、Hif-1β、cdc42、RhoA、Smad7、TIMP-1、TIMP-2 mRNA was detected by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) in control group and trasfected group. The expression of USP22 and TIMP-2 was determined by Western blot and RT-qPCR in control group and two transfected groups. Invasive activities of SW480 was detected by Transwell. Results USP22 expression was highly expressed in SW480 (P＜0.05). After silencing the USP22 gene, TIMP-2 expression and the invasive activities of SW480 were suppressed compared with control group (P＜0.05). Knockdown of TIMP-2 gene did not infuence the expression of USP22, but the invasive activities of SW480 were suppressed (P＜0.05). Conclusions USP22 may inhibit the invasion and metastasis of CRC by controlling the expression level of TIMP-2.

Key words: Keywords: USP22, TIMP-2, Invasion, Colorectal cancer