GOLPH3 promotes glioma progression by enhancing PHB2-mediated autophagy

Due to the hypoxia and nutrient deficiency microenvironment, malignant glioma exhibits high autophagy activity and autophagy plays a significant role in the occurrence and development of glioma. However, the potential molecular mechanism of autophagy in glioma remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that Golgi phosphorylation protein 3 (GOLPH3), a highly conserved protein basically concentrates in the trans-Golgi network, promoted glioma autophagy. Inhibiting autophagy by using chloroquine suppressed the stimulating effect of GOLPH3 on glioma malignant development both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, GOLPH3 interacted with and recruited prohibitin-2 (PHB2), an autophagy receptor of mitochondrion, and LC3-II. PHB2 promoted cell autophagy and down-regulation of PHB2 abolished the effect of GOLPH3 on autophagy. On the side, the relative mRNA and protein levels of GOLPH3 and PHB2 were positively associated with each other and both also correlated with autophagy in glioma tissues. Together, our results revealed that GOLPH3 promotes glioma progression by enhancing PHB2-mediated autophagy and inhibiting autophagy may benefit glioma patients with GOLPH3 high level. The novel GOLPH3-PHB2-autophagy axis maybe a potential and prospective therapeutic target for gliomas.