Acylglycerol kinase functions as an oncogene and an unfavorable prognostic marker of human gliomas.

Acylglycerol kinase (AGK) regulates various cellular processes involved into tumorigenesis and tumor progression. To investigate involvement of AGK in human gliomas, here, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry analyses were performed to respectively detect the expression of AGK mRNA and protein in glioma and nonneoplastic brain tissue specimens. Then, the associations of AGK expression with various clinicopathological characteristics and patients' prognosis were statistically evaluated. Moreover, the effects of siRNA-mediated AGK knockdown on glioma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were respectively assessed via Cell Counting Kit-8 and Transwell assays in vitro. As a result, AGK expression, at both mRNA and protein levels, were markedly up-regulated in glioma tissues compared with nonneoplastic brain tissues (both P < .001). In addition, high AGK expression was significantly associated with the grade of malignancy and poor prognosis in glioma patients (all P < .05). Importantly, Cox regression model of multivariate analysis identified AGK expression as an independent prognostic factor for glioma patients (P = .03). Furthermore, silencing the expression of AGK dramatically suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma cells in vitro (all P < .05). In conclusion, AGK up-regulation may be involved into glioma development and progression, highlighting its prognostic value for the treatment of patients with this malignancy. Further loss-of-function experiments suggest that AGK might play an important role in the viability and motility of glioma cells, implying its potentials as an attractive therapeutic target for this tumor.

Liu N ，Wang Z ，Cheng Y ，Zhang P ，Wang X ，Yang H ，Liu H ，Zhang Y ，Tu Y ... -  《-》

Acylglycerol kinase is over-expressed in early-stage cervical squamous cell cancer and predicts poor prognosis.

Sun F ，Xiong Y ，Zhou XH ，Li Q ，Xiao L ，Long P ，Li LJ ，Cai MY ，Wei YX ，Ma YL ，Yu YH ... -  《-》

Decreased expression of miR-378 correlates with tumor invasiveness and poor prognosis of patients with glioma.

Li B ，Wang Y ，Li S ，He H ，Sun F ，Wang C ，Lu Y ，Wang X ，Tao B ... -  《International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology》

Reduced expression of microRNA-497 is associated with greater angiogenesis and poor prognosis in human gliomas.

MicroRNA (miR)-497 plays a tumor-suppressive role in several malignancies and is involved in glioma invasiveness and resistance to chemotherapy. To add to the knowledge of the clinical significance of miR-497 in human gliomas, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the expression of miR-497 in 110 pairs of freshly prepared glioma and nonneoplastic brain tissues. Then the associations of miR-497 expression with various clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival of glioma patients were estimated statistically. Gain-of-function assays were also performed to examine the role of miR-497 in glioma angiogenesis. The expression of miR-497 in human glioma tissues was significantly lower than in nonneoplastic brain tissues (P<.001). In addition, low miR-497 expression was significantly associated with advanced World Health Organization grade (P<.001) and low Karnofsky performance scores (P=.02). Moreover, the survival of glioma patients with low miR-497 expression was dramatically shorter than that of patients with high miR-497 expression (P=.001). Forced expression of miR-497 in glioma cells inhibited tube formation by cocultured human brain microvascular endothelial cells. We also found that miR-497 overexpression in glioma cells led to decreased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor. In conclusion, miR-497 may be a favorable prognostic marker in human gliomas, in part by being a negative regulator of angiogenesis, implying its potential as a therapeutic target for this cancer.

Feng F ，Kuai D ，Wang H ，Li T ，Miao W ，Liu Y ，Fan Y ... -  《-》

Overexpression of acylglycerol kinase is associated with poorer prognosis and lymph node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Zhu Q ，Cao SM ，Lin HX ，Yang Q ，Liu SL ，Guo L ... -  《-》