ALG2 regulates glioblastoma cell proliferation, migration and tumorigenicity

Apoptosis-linked gene-2 (ALG-2), also known as programmed cell death 6 (PDCD6), has recently been reported to be aberrantly expressed in various tumors and required for tumor cell viability. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether ALG-2 plays a crucial role in tumor cell proliferation, migration and tumorigenicity. In this study, we examined the expression of PDCD6 in glioblastoma cell lines and found that ALG-2 was generally expressed in glioblastoma cell lines. We also performed an analysis of an online database and found that high expression of ALG-2 was associated with poor prognosis (p = 0.039). We found that over-expression of ALG2 in glioblastoma could inhibit cell proliferation and, conversely, that down-regulation of ALG2 could promote cell proliferation. Further studies showed that over-expression of ALG2 inhibited the migration of tumor cells, whereas down-regulation of ALG2 promoted tumor cell migration. Finally, in vitro and in vivo studies showed that over-expression of ALG2 inhibited the tumorigenic ability of tumor cells, while down-regulation of ALG2 promoted tumor cell tumorigenic ability. In conclusion, ALG2 has a tumor suppressive role in glioblastoma and might be a potential target for the treatment of glioblastoma.