Expression of silk/threonine kinase 1 in glioma and its effect on proliferation of U87MG cells and its mechanism

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of serine/threonine kinase 1 (PIM1) in glioma and its effects on proliferation of glioma cell line U87MG and the possible mechanism. Methods Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of PIM1 in 28 cases of glioblastoma specimens and 15 cases of traumatic brain specimens. The expression of PIM1 in U87MG cells was knocked down by RNA interference technique, and cells were divided into short hairpin RNA (shRNA) negative control group and shRNA interference group. The proliferation of U87MG cells was examined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. By Western blotting, the expression of PIM1, protein kinase B (Akt), and phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt) proteins was detected in glioma tissues. Results The expression of PIM1 mRNA (1.59±0.13) was significantly higher in glioma tissues than that in normal brain tissue (0.42±0.09, P=0.010). The proliferation of U87MG cells in shRNA interference group at 72 h (0.462±0.014) was significantly reduced as compared with that in shRNA negative group (0.826±0.034, P=0.008). The knockdown of PIM1 could lead to changes in Akt signaling pathway. Conclusion The PIM1 could promote the proliferation of U87MG cells by Akt signaling pathway. Key words: Serine/threonine kinase 1; Glioma; Cell proliferation