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Background We have previously found that connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is highly expressed in a rat model of liver cancer.Here,we examined expression of CTGFin human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and its effect on cell growth.Methods Real-time PCR was used to observe expression of CTGF in human HCC cell lines HepG2,SMMC-7721,MHCC-97H and LO2.siRNA for the CTGFgene was designed,synthesized and cloned into a Plk0.1-GFP-SP6 vector to construct a lentivirus-mediated shRNA/CTGF.CTGF mRNA and protein expression in HepG2 cells treated by CTGF-specific shRNA was evaluated by real-time PCR and Western blotting.3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was utilized to evaluate the growth effect,and a colony formation assay was used for observing clonogenic growth.In vivo,tumor cell proliferation was evaluated in a nude mouse model of xenotransplantation.Statistical significance was determined by t test for comparison between two groups,or analysis of variance (ANOVA) for multiple groups.Results Immunohistochemical staining of CTGF was seen in 35 of 40 HCC samples (87.5％).CTGF was overexpressed 5-fold in 20 HCC tissues,compared with surrounding non-tumor liver tissue.CTGF mRNA level was 5-8-fold higher in HepG2,SMMC-7721 and MHCC-97H than in LO2 cells.This indicated that the inhibition rate of cell growth was 43％ after knockdown of CTGF expression (P ＜0.05).Soft agar colony formation assay showed that siRNA mediated knockdown of CTGF inhibited colony formation in soft agar of HepG2 cells (P ＜0.05).The volume of tumors from CTGF-shRNA-expressing cells only accounted for 35％ of the tumors from the scrambled control-infected HepG2 cells (P ＜0.05).Conclusions CTGF was overexpressed in human HCC cells and downregulation of CTGF inhibited HCC growth in vitro and in vivo.Knockdown of CTGF may be a potential therapeutic strategy for treatment of HCC.