Effect of fragile histidine triad gene on biologic properties of muco-epidermoid carcinoma cells

Background The fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene is abnormally expressed in many kinds of tumors and plays an important role in tumor development. However, the function of the FHIT gene in mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is still unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of exogenous FHIT gene on the biologic properties of MEC cells. Methods Wild-type FHIT gene was transferred into MEC-1 cells. The in vitro proliferation, clone formation ability and apoptosis of FHITtransfected MEC-1 cells (MEC-FHITc4) were examined by cell counting, clonal forming assay, immunochemical staining, histochemical staining, flow cytometry analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The tumorigenicity of MEC-FHITc4 cells was observed by in vivo study in nude mice.