ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) in colon cancer and the effect of its expression on proliferation of colon cancer cell. MethodsThirty cases of colon cancer in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from March 2013 to April 2013 were studied. TFAM mRNA was detected both in colon cancer tissue and para-cancer tissue by real-time PCR. TFAM mRNA and protein were detected in normal colon cell strain and colon cancer strains SW480, HT-29, and HCT116 by real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively. The proliferation of SW480 cells was evaluated after up-regulating TFAM. ResultsThe expression of TFAM mRNA in the colon cancer tissue was significantly higher than that in the para-cancer tissue (P < 0.000 1). The expressions of TFAM mRNA were obviously increased in the SW480, HT-29, and HCT116 cells as compared with the normal colon cell strain (P value was 0.000 8, 0.002 3, and 0.000 6, respectively), among which the most notable increase was detected in the SW480 cells. The expressions of TFAM protein were obviously increased in the SW480, HT-29, and HCT116 cells as compared with the normal colon cell strain (P value was 0.000 2, 0.003 8, and 0.001 6, respectively), among which the most notable increase was detected in the SW480 cells. After up-regulating TFAM by plasmid transfection, the proliferation of the pcDNA3.1-TFAM-SW480 cell was increased significantly as compared with the pcDNA3.1-SW480 cell at 96 h and 120 h after transfection by the MTT test (P < 0.000 1). The proliferation of the pcDNA3.1-TFAM-SW480 cell was increased significantly as compared with the pcDNA3.1-SW480 cell at 48 h after transfection by the BrdU test (P < 0.001 0). ConclusionTFAM expression is high in colon cancer. Up-regulated TFAM could promote the proliferation of colon cancer cells.