〔Abstract〕 Objective To explore the clinical significance of artemin（ARTN）expression in prostate cancer （PCa）tissues and its impact on the malignant behavior of PCa cell lines. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of ARTN protein in 40 benign prostate tissues and 91 PCa tissues，and its relationship with the clinical and pathological characteristics of PCa was analyzed. PCa stable cell lines with ARTN knockdown were constructed，and the effects of ARTN on the proliferation，migration，and invasion ability of PCa cells were detected via CCK-8 cell proliferation assay and Transwell assay. Western blot assay was used to detect the effect of ARTN on the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition（EMT）related markers E-cadherin，N-cadherin，Vi⁃ mentin，and Snail family transcription inhibitory factor 1（Snail-1）. Results ARTN was highly expressed in PCa and correlated with Gleason score，local lymph node metastasis，and local nerve invasion（P<0. 05）. Survival analysis showed a statistically significant difference in survival rates between ARTN positive and negative patients （P=0. 027）. The results of CCK-8 and Transwell assay showed that the knockdown of ARTN could inhibit the pro ⁃ liferation，migration，and invasion ability of PCa cells（all P<0. 05）. Western blot results showed that the knock ⁃ down of ARTN upregulated the epithelial marker E-cadherin in PCa cells，while the mesenchymal markers N- cadherin，Snail-1，and Vimentin were downregulated. Conclusion ARTN is highly expressed in PCa and can pro ⁃ mote the proliferation，migration，invasion ability of PCa cells，as well as increasing EMT levels in PCa cells，sug⁃ gesting it may be a potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of PCa.