Kiaa0101 serves as a prognostic marker and promotes invasion by regulating p38/snail1 pathway in glioma.

BACKGROUND

Kiaa0101, a regulator of cell proliferation, is overexpressed in many malignant tumors. However, its role in promoting invasion of glioma is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of Kiaa0101 on glioma invasion and elucidated the underlying mechanisms of action.

METHODS

We analyzed Kiaa0101 expression using datasets from four public databases, namely TCGA, CGGA, Gravendeel and Rembrandt as well as experimentally on 123 glioma samples via western blot (WB), RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC). We further quantified migration and invasion using wound healing and transwell assays. WB, IHC and immunofluorescence (IF) were used to detect expression of invasion related markers. Moreover, we detected tumor invasion of glioma cells in 5-week-old Balb/c nude mice.

RESULTS

Kiaa0101 was upregulated in glioma, relative to non-tumor brain tissues, with the expression increasing with increase in glioma grade. Kiaa0101 mRNA expression was especially enriched in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)1 wild-type glioma. Kaplan-Meier analysis, based on the aforementioned datasets, revealed that high Kiaa0101 levels were significantly associated with worse overall survival. Besides, shRNA-mediated Kiaa0101 knockdown inhibited migration and invasion of glioma cells by reducing snail1 expression both and , whereas its upregulation enhanced malignant behaviors of these cells. Furthermore, Kiaa0101 regulated snail1 expression by activating the p38MAPK signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings strongly indicate that Kiaa0101 is a prognostic biomarker for malignant tumors, and its inhibition may be an effective strategy for treating glioma.