Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a highly conserved, growth‑associated and small molecule protein, which is highly expressed in various types of tumor cell. TCTP can promote the growth and suppress apoptosis of tumor cels. However, few studies have reported the effects of TCTP in gliomas. In the present study, a glioma cell line was established, which was stably transfected with TCTP short hairpin ribonucleic acid (shRNA), to investigate the impact of downregulated expression of TCTP on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasion of glioma cells. Western blot and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses demonstrated that TCTP shRNA effectively reduced the expression of TCTP in the U251 glioma cell line. MTT and colony formation assays revealed that downregulated expression of TCTP significantly inhibited glioma cell proliferation. Cell cycle analysis using flow cytometry revealed that the cells in the pRNA‑H1.1‑TCTP group were arrested in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle. Western blot analysis detected downregulated expression levels of cyclins, including Cyclin D1, Cyclin E and Cyclin B. Annexin V‑fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide and Hoechst staining demonstrated that the apoptotic rate of the cells in the pRNA‑H1.1‑TCTP group was significantly higher than that of the cells in the pRNA‑H1.1‑control group, with upregulated expression levels of B-cell-associated X protein and cleaved‑caspase‑3 and downregulated expression of B-cell lmyphoma-2 in the apoptotic process. Wound healing and Transwell assays revealed that downregulated expression of TCTP significantly inhibited the migration and invasiveness of the glioma cells; and the expression levels and activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9 were also significantly affected. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that downregulated expression of TCTP significantly inhibited proliferation and invasion, and induced apoptosis in the glioma cells. These results suggested that TCTP may be important in glioma development and metastasis. Therefore, TCTP is expected to become an effective target for glioma gene therapy.