Loss of periplakin expression is associated with the tumorigenesis of colorectal carcinoma

- PPL was down-regulated in colon carcinomas.
- PPL could inhibit the proliferation of the colon cancer in vitro and in vivo.
- PPL overexpression reduced metastasis, invasion and EMT in HT29 cells.
- Enforced expression of PPL induced G1/G0 cell cycle arrest in HT29 cells.

Periplakin (PPL), a member of the plakin protein family, has been reported to be down-expressed in urothelial carcinoma. The role of PPL in human colorectal cancer, however, remains largely unknown. Also little is known about the contribution of PPL to the malignant property of colorectal cancer and the intracellular function of PPL. In this study, we demonstrated that PPL was apparently down-expressed in colon carcinomas compared with normal and para-carcinoma tissues, which was correlated with the tumor size. Enforced expression of PPL in HT29 cells inhibited its proliferation evidenced by decreased expression of phosphorylated ERK and PCNA. Furthermore, PPL overexpression could reduce metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HT29 cells, with decreased expression of N-cadherin, Snail, Slug and α-SMA while increased expression of E-cadherin. On the contrary, the PPL knockdown could promote the cell proliferation, migratory, invasive and EMT ability of HT29 cells. Moreover, enforced expression of PPL induced G1/G0 cell cycle arrest, with decreased cyclin D1, p-Rb and increased expression of p27kib, which could be reversed by PPL knockdown. In addition, PPL overexpression inhibited the growth of colon cancer allograft in vivo. Taken together, acted as a tumor suppressor in colon cancer progression, PPL could be a new biomarker or potential therapeutic target in colon cancer.