Abstract: Background and purpose: Metabolism change is one of the main characteristics of the tumor development. Many studies have confirmed that cytosolic acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) plays a critical role in hydrocarbon metabolism of cancer cells. This study aimed to explore the effect of ACSS2 on cellular proliferation, apoptosis and migration of A549 cells by RNA interference. Methods: The ACSS2 interference fragment ACSS2-siRNA and negative control were designed and synthesized for RNA interference followed by the transient transfection in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line A549. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) was used to detect ACSS2 mRNA expression. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), flow cytometry and wound healing assay were used to detect cell proliferation, apoptosis rate and migration. Results: The expression of ACSS2 mRNA was significantly decreased after transfection with the interference fragment ACSS2-siRNA in NSCLC cell line A549. The proliferation and migration activity of ACSS2-siRNA treated cells were decreased significantly compared with the control group. The apoptosis rate, especially the early apoptosis, was increased.. Conclusion: Knockdown of the ACSS2 expression in NSCLC cell line A549 can significantly inhibit the cell proliferation, migration ability and pro- mote the apoptosis rate, especially early apoptosis. This study indicates that ACSS2 may contribute to the progression of human lung adenocarcinoma and may have the potential to serve as a novel therapeutic target.

Key words: Lung neoplasm, Cytosolic acetyl-CoA synthetase 2, RNA interference