Authors: Fuxin Yi Weimin Ni Wenda Liu Xiaodong Pan Xiubin Han Lei Yang Xiangquan Kong Rui Ma Rui Chang
Publish Date: 2013/05/22
Volume: 34, Issue: 5, Pages: 2849-2855
Abstract
Spermassociated antigen 9 SPAG9 is a recently characterized oncoprotein involved in the progression of several human malignancies The present study aims to investigate the expression pattern and biological roles of SPAG9 protein in human astrocytoma SPAG9 expression was analyzed in 105 astrocytoma specimens by immunohistochemistry We observed negative staining in normal astrocytes and positive staining of SPAG9 in 63 out of 105 60 astrocytoma samples Overexpression of SPAG9 correlated with tumor grade p 0001 Small interfering RNA knockdown was performed in U251 and U87 cell lines with relatively high SPAG9 expression Using methylthiazolyldiphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and Matrigel invasion assay we were able to show that SPAG9 depletion in astrocytoma cell lines inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in both cell lines In addition mRNA and protein levels of matrix metallopeptidase 9 MMP9 were downregulated while the levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 TIMP1 and TIMP2 were not changed indicating that SPAG9 might regulate invasion through MMP9 In conclusion SPAG9 serves as an important oncoprotein in human astrocytoma by regulating cell proliferation and invasion
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