Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeted silencing of CNTN1 gene expression on apoptosis, migration and invasion of human breast cancer MDA-MB-468 cells and its mechanism. Methods Human breast cancer MDA-MB-468 cell lines were divided into three groups: blank group replaced with routine culture medium, empty vector group transfected with nonsense shRNA fragment, and silencing group transfected with shRNA vector fragment targeting silencing CNTN1 expression. The expression level of CNTN1 protein was detected by western blot. The changes of apoptosis rate, migration and invasion ability were detected by flow cytometry, cell scratch and transwell experiment. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of E-cadherin, and epithelial interstitial related genes ［zinc finger E-box binding protein 1 (ZEB-1), Vimentin, Twist protein, zinc finger transcription factor (Snail)］. Results The expression level of CNTN1 protein in MDA-MB-468 cells in the silencing group decreased significantly (P<0.05), the apoptosis rate increased (P<0.05), and the ability of migration and invasion decreased significantly (P<0.05). The expression levels of ZEB-1, Vimentin, Twist and Snail in the silencing group were significantly inhibited, while the expression level of E-cadherin increased significantly (P<0.05). Conclusion Silencing CNTN1 expression promotes the increase of apoptosis and the decrease of migration and invasion of breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-468 by regulating epithelial mesenchymal transformation.