Background and purpose: Colon cancer is a common clinical malignant tumor. This study aimed to investigate the expression of tumor suppressor gene expression product T-cadherin in colon cancer and its relationship with clinicopathological features

and to analyze the effect of 5-Aza-CdR on T-cadherin expression and proliferation

invasion and apoptosis of colon cancer cells. Methods: The fresh samples of colon cancer tissues and adjacent tissues from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University were collected and verified by pathological diagnosis from 2015 to 2016

and total RNA and protein were extracted respectively. The expression of T-cadherin in tissues was analyzed by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) and Western blot

and the relationship between the expression of T-cadherin and clinicopathological features was also analyzed. Furthermore

colon cancer HT-29 cells were treated with methylation inhibitor 5-Aza-CdR. The expression of T-cadherin in cells was analyzed by RTFQ-PCR and Western blot. Cell proliferation

invasive ability and apoptosis were analyzed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8)

transwell assay and flow cytometry respectively. Results: The T-cadherin expression in colon cancer tissues was significantly lower than that in paracancerous tissues. The expression level of T-cadherin was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (F=5.316

P=0.009 3) and the degree of differentiation (F=5.807

P=0.006 4). Other pathologic parameters

including gender

age

tumor size and depth of tumor invasion

were not significantly correlated with T-cadherin expression. The 5-Aza-CdR treatment significantly up-regulated the expression of T-cadherin

inhibited the proliferation and invasion

and promoted the apoptosis of HT-29 cells. Conclusion: The expression of T-cadherin may be closely related to the malignancy of colon cancer. The 5-Aza-CdR treatment up-regulates the expression of T-cadherin

inhibits the cell proliferation and invasion

and promotes the apoptosis of HT-29 cells. It is suggested that T-cadherin could be an important target for 5-Aza-CdR drug therapy in patients with colon cancer.