Knockdown of TRIM44 inhibits the proliferation and invasion in papillary thyroid cancer cells through suppressing the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Tripartite motif 44 (TRIM44), a member of the TRIM family, functions as a critical regulator in several types of malignancy. However, the role of TRIM44 in thyroid cancer has never been revealed. Thus, in this study, to explore its role in PTC, we detected its expression patterns in human papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) tissues and cell lines, and investigated its effects on cell proliferation and invasion. Our results demonstrated that TRIM44 was highly expressed in human PTC tissues and cell lines. In addition, silencing of TRIM44 significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration/invasion, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in PTC cells. Furthermore, silencing of TRIM44 dramatically down-regulated the expression of β-catenin, cyclin-D1 and c-Myc in PEC cells, and the activator of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway LiCl rescued the anticancer effect of knockdown TRIM44 expression in PTC cells. In conclusion, this study reported here provided evidence that TRIM44 functions as an oncogene in PTC. Silencing of TRIM44 inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of PTC cells in part through suppression of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Thus, TRIM44 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of PTC.