Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of acetyl CoA carboxylase alpha（ACCα） in hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） and its regulation in HCC cell growth. Methods The expression levels of ACCα at both mRNA and protein were examined in 30 cases of HCC and adjacent normal tissues by using real-time quantitative PCR（qRT-PCR） and Western blot analysis. Cell proliferation，cell cycle distribution and cell apoptosis were determined by using MTS assay and flow cytometry after ACCα was knocked-down by small interference RNA （siRNA）. Results The qRT-PCR and Western　blot showed that the expression of ACCα at mRNA and protein levels were significantly higher in HCC tissues than in adjacent normal tissues（3.26±0.81 vs1.88±0.64，P＝0.021；3.41±0.71 vs 1.74±0.54，P＝0.019）. Knockdown of ACCα significantly decreased cell proliferation（P<0.01） and suppressed cell cycle progression（P<0.05），while increased cell apoptosis （P<0.01）.Conclusions The expression of ACCα is significantly upregulated in HCC，which promoted the proliferation of HCC cells mainly by inducing cell cycle progression and suppressing cell apoptotic. ACCα may be used as a potential therapy target for the treatment of HCC.

Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Acetyl CoA carboxylase alpha, Cell cycle, Proliferation, Apoptosis