There are no appropriate drugs for metastatic neuroblastoma (NB), which is the most common extracranial solid tumor for childhood. Thioredoxin binding protein (TXNIP), the endogenous inhibitor of ROS elimination, has been identified as a tumor suppressor in various solid tumors. It reported that fenofibrate exerts anti-tumor effects in several human cancer cell lines. However, its detail mechanisms remain unclear. The present study assessed the effects of fenofibrate on NB cells and investigated TXNIP role in its anti-tumor mechanisms. We used MU assay to detect cells proliferation, starch wound test to investigate cells migration, H2DCF-DA to detect intracellular ROS, siRNA to interfere TXNIP and peroxisome proliferator-androgen receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) expression, western blot to determine protein levels, flow cytometry to analyze apoptosis. Fenofibrate suppressed proliferation and migration of NB cells, remarkably increased intracellular ROS, upregulated TXNIP expression, promoted cell apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibition of TXNIP expression attenuated anti-tumor effects of fenofibrate, while inhibition of PPAR-alpha had no influences. Our results indicated the anti-tumor role of fenofibrate on NB cells by exacerbating oxidative stress and inducing apoptosis was dependent on the upregulation of TXNIP. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.