ITPKA suppresses glioma progression and predicts patient prognosis

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase A (ITPKA) is expressed in various tumors and is associated with tumor progression. This study investigated the expression patterns of ITPKA in gliomas and explored its functional role in glioblastoma (GBM), thereby providing new insights into the diagnostic and prognostic evaluations of ITPKA in this disease.

ITPKA expression levels in glioma tissues of different World Health Organization (WHO) grades and GBM cell lines were measured using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting. U251-MG and T98G cells were transfected with negative control, ITPKA overexpression or ITPKA knockdown plasmids, followed by relevant detections. Subsequently, the viability, proliferation, migration and invasion abilities, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis rate of GBM cells in each group were detected using the Cell-Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) proliferation, wound healing, Transwell, and flow cytometry assays, respectively. Subsequently, the effect of ITPKA on GBM growth was evaluated in a nude mouse subcutaneous tumor xenograft model.

Overexpression of ITPKA significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities of GBM cells of the two GBM cell lines in vitro and the progression of subcutaneous xenograft tumors of two GBM cell lines in nude mice in vivo. In contrast, ITPKA knockdown significantly promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities of GBM cells in the two GBM cell lines in vitro and the progression of subcutaneous xenograft tumors in these two GBM cell lines in nude mice.

Low expression of ITPKA in glioma tissues correlates with GBM progression, indicating that it may act as a tumor suppressor gene and is a candidate biomarker for the molecular diagnostic and prognostic evaluations of glioblastoma.