Potassium channels and their role in glioma: A mini review

Abstract

K⁺ channels regulate a multitude of biological processes and play important roles in a variety of diseases by controlling potassium flow across cell membranes. They are widely expressed in the central and peripheral nervous system. As a malignant tumor derived from nerve epithelium, glioma has the characteristics of high incidence, high recurrence rate, high mortality rate, and low cure rate. Since glioma cells show invasive growth, current surgical methods cannot completely remove tumors. Adjuvant chemotherapy is still needed after surgery. Because the blood-brain barrier and other factors lead to a lower effective concentration of chemotherapeutic drugs in the tumor, the recurrence rate of residual lesions is extremely high. Therefore, new therapeutic methods are needed. Numerous studies have shown that different K⁺ channel subtypes are differentially expressed in glioma cells and are involved in the regulation of the cell cycle of glioma cells to arrest them at different stages of the cell cycle. Increasing evidence suggests that K⁺ channels express in glioma cells and regulate glioma cell behaviors such as cell cycle, proliferation and apoptosis. This review article aims to summarize the current knowledge on the function of K⁺ channels in glioma, suggests K⁺ channels participating in the development of glioma.

Keywords:

• K⁺ channel
• glioma
• cell cycle
• cell proliferation
• cell apoptosis

Acknowledgements

We thank Siyi Chen (College of Pharmacy, Creighton University, Omaha, United Stated) for helpful discussion and for revising the language of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 30970353], and the Science and Technology Plan Projects in Liaoning Province, China [No. 2015020568].