BACKGROUND Tectonic family member 1 (TCTN1), a member of the tectonic family, is involved in several developmental processes and is aberrantly expressed in multiple solid tumors. However, the expression and regulation of TCTN1 in human colorectal cancer (CRC) is still not clear. MATERIAL AND METHODS The expression of TCTN1 mRNA was first explored by using Oncomine microarray datasets. TCTN1 expression was silenced in human CRC cell lines HCT116 and SW1116 via RNA interference (RNAi). Furthermore, we investigated the effect of TCTN1 depletion on CRC cell growth by MTT, colony formation, and flow cytometry in vitro. RESULTS In this study, meta-analysis showed that the expressions of TCTN1 mRNA in CRC specimens were significantly higher than that in normal specimens. Knockdown of TCTN1 expression potently inhibited the abilities of cell proliferation and colony formation as determined. Flow cytometry analysis showed that depletion of TCTN1 could cause cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. In addition, Annexin V/7-AAD double-staining indicated that TCTN1 silencing promoted cell apoptosis through down-regulation of caspase 3 and Bcl-2 and upregulation of cleaved caspase 3 and PARP. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that TCTN1 may be crucial for CRC cell growth, providing a novel alternative to target therapies of CRC. Further research on this topic is warranted.