Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression levels of integrin-linked kinase in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines CNE1 and 5-8f. The effect of ILK expression on the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Methods IHC was used to exam ILK expression in NPC and normal nasopharyngeal epithelium. qRT-PCR and Western blot experiments were used to detect the RNA expression levels and protein expression level of ILK in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines CNE1 and 5-8f..and measure the knock down efficiency of ILK Small interfering RNA. MTT assay was used to evaluate the cell proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 statistical software. The T-test was used for comparison between groups. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results ILK expressed in NPC tissue but not normal nasopharyngeal epithelium. siILK significantly decreased ILK expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines CNE1 and 5-8f, (P<0.05). Down-regulation of ILK expression by siRNA can inhibit the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, ILK-specific small molecule inhibitor (Cdp22) inhibits the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells(P<0.05). Conclusion Down-regulating ILK expression inhibits the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and can be used as a new target for treatments of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Key words: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Cell proliferation, integrin-linked kinase