Background TNNT1 (human slow troponin T gene) is a Troponin T (TnT) isoform that plays a central role on calcium regulation and contraction of skeletal muscles. And it has been reported that TNNT1 is associated with several cancers, but there is no evidences proved that TNNT1 is required in colon adenocarcinoma. Thus, we performed this study to figure out its function. Materials and methods The mRNA expression level of TNNT1 in colon adenocarcinoma tissues was in line with TCGA database and the correlation of clinical characteristics and expression difference was also obtained from the mentioned dataset earlier. Cancer cells were deleted TNNT1 using small interfering RNA (siRNA) method and then detected the propagation, migration, invasion abilities by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) analysis and transwell assays respectively. To assess the expression of TNNT1, the quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for mRNA level and western blot for protein level were executed. Result Our results stated that the expression of TNNT1 was significantly up-regulated in colon adenocarcinoma tissues as well as cells, which was related to prognosis in patients. Then we observed that knockdown of TNNT1 could suppress cells proliferation, migration and invasion. Meanwhile, the effects of si-TNNT1 on Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process were also examined via western blot, suggesting that reduction of TNNT1 elevated the E-cadherin remarkably and decreased the N- cadherin, vimentin. Conclusion In conclusion, TNNT1 may promote the progression of colon adenocarcinoma and shed a novel light on therapy colon adenocarcinoma.