Chemotherapy is an important treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC); however, colorectal adenocarcinoma cells often develop resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, leading to relapse and poor patient prognosis. Tripartite motif containing 8 (TRIM8) is a new p53 modulator, and induces the reduction of cell proliferation; however, it is unclear whether TRIM8 expression has an effect on regulating drug sensitivity of CRC. The present study demonstrated that TRIM8 is downregulated in CRC tissues and cell lines. Two different colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines were used, which exhibit different p53 protein levels: SW620 cells express wild‑type p53 protein, while SW480 are p53‑null cells. Overexpression of TRIM8 sensitized SW620 cells to 5‑fluorouracil, a chemotherapeutic drug, while knockdown of TRIM8 promoted SW620 cell survival. However, this did not occur in SW480 cells. It was demonstrated that TRIM8 promoted CRC cell sensitivity to the above chemotherapeutic drug in a p53‑dependent manner. Furthermore, it was observed that TRIM8 downregulation prevented p53 activation. Taken together, our findings suggested that TRIM8 may play a role in colorectal adenocarcinoma cancer cell drug resistance, and may be a therapeutic target against chemotherapy drug resistance in colorectal adenocarcinoma where p53 is wild type.

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