Glioma is the most common primary brain malignant
tumor.
Receptor for activated C-kinase 1 (RACK1) is widely expressed in the central nervous system, and regulates multiple cellular processes including cell survival, proliferation, migration and
metastasis. However, the role of RACK1 in
glioma has never been revealed. The present study, for the first time, showed that RACK1 expression was significantly higher in
glioma tissues and cell lines when compared with that in normal brain tissues, and was positively associated with the
malignancy of
glioma.
siRNA-induced RACK1 downregulation significantly suppressed the proliferation and invasion of human
glioma U87 and CHG-5 cells, while it promoted their apoptosis by upregulating Bax expression and reducing Bcl-2 expression. Furthermore, forced downregulation of RACK1 notably inhibited
tumor xenograft growth in nude mice. These findings suggest that RACK1 plays a critical role in the development and progression of
glioma in vitro and in vivo. Moreover,
siRNA-induced RACK1 downregulation markedly reduced the activity of Src/Akt signaling pathway, which plays an important role in the growth and behavior of human
malignancies, indicating that
siRNA-mediated RACK1 downregulation inhibited
glioma probably via suppressing Src/Akt signaling activity. The present study highlighted the role of RACK1 in
glioma, and demonstrated that RACK1 is a novel promising therapeutic target for
glioma treatment.