UHRF2 mRNA Expression is Low in Malignant Glioma but Silencing Inhibits the Growth of U251 Glioma Cells in vitro

Abstract

UHRF2 is a member of the ubiquitin plant homeo domain RING finger family, which has been proven to befrequently up-regulated in colorectal cancer cells and play a role as an oncogene in breast cancer cells. However,the role of UHRF2 in glioma cells remains unclear. In this study, we performed real-time quantitative PCR on32 pathologically confirmed glioma samples (grade I, 4 cases; grade II, 11 cases; grade III, 10 cases; and gradeIV, 7 cases; according to the 2007 WHO classification system) and four glioma cell lines (A172, U251, U373, andU87). The expression of UHRF2 mRNA was significantly lower in the grade III and grade IV groups comparedwith the noncancerous brain tissue group, whereas its expression was high in A172, U251, and U373 glioma celllines. An in vitro assay was performed to investigate the functions of UHRF2. Using a lentivirus-based RNAinterference (RNAi) approach, we down-regulated UHRF2 expression in the U251 glioma cell line. This downregulationled to the inhibition of cell proliferation, an increase in cell apoptosis, and a change of cell cycledistribution, in which S stage cells decreased and G2/M stage cells increased. Our results suggest that UHRF2may be closely related to tumorigenesis and the development of gliomas.