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To investigate the effect of silencing hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-Met) expression on the biological characteristics of HCT116 colon cancer cells.MethodsCellular model of c-Met transient transfection was established by using small interfering RNA (siRNA), the expression of c-Met in colon cancer cells was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot. The apoptosis assay, cell invasion assay, cell migration and other experiments were conducted to observe the effects of silencing c-Met on the biological characteristics of colon cancer cells.ResultsRT-qPCR results showed that the relative expression levels of c-Met mRNA in siRNA-Met group, blank control group and siRNA negative control (siRNA-NC) group were 0.32±0.26, 1.01±0.03 and 1.05±0.23, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Western blot analysis showed that the expression level of c-Met protein in the siRNA-Met group was 0.24±0.03, significantly lower than 1.23±0.06 in the blank control group and 1.18±0.11 in the siRNA-NC group (P<0.05). The cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) results showed that the 72-hour absorbance (A) values of the siRNA-Met group, blank control group and the siRNA-NC group were 1.13±0.05, 1.48±0.08 and 1.53±0.07, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). Cell cycle results showed that the proportion of cells in G2/M phase was (14.65±1.41)% in siRNA-Met group, (5.07±0.70)% in blank control group and (5.63±0.71)% in siRNA-NC group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The expression levels of cell cycle regulatory proteins Cdc25c and cyclin B1 in siRNA-Met group were significantly decreased. The apoptotic rate in siRNA-Met group was (5.85±0.35)%, significantly higher than (1.00±0.17)% in blank control group and (0.91±1.14)% in siRNA-NC group (P<0.05). The expression level of apoptosis-related protein Bcl-2 in the siRNA-Met group was significantly decreased while Bcl-2 associated X protein (BAX) expression level was significantly increased. The cell scratching result showed that the cell migration abilities of the siRNA-Met group, blank control group and the siRNA-NC group were (51.33±8.62)%, (100.00±3.72)% and (102.33±6.43)%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The number of cell penetrating into the basement membrane of the siRNA-Met group, blank control group and the siRNA-NC group were 47.50±10.60, 100.00±5.33 and 102.50±10.61, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The expressions of invasion related proteins including MMP-2 and MMP-9 in siRNA-Met group were decreased significantly.Conclusionsc-Met plays an important role in maintaining the biological characteristics of colon cancer cells. Inhibition of c-Met may have important values in the treatment of colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]