Effects of PKCε knockdown on mitochondrial membrane potential of human glioma cells in vitro and growth of U251 cell-derived tumors in vivo

ABSTRACT

Glioma is the most common type of primary brain tumor; it exhibits great invasive capacity, morbidity and mortality. Protein kinase Cε (PKCε), a serine/threonine kinase, contributes to the development and progression of many cancers. We investigated whether knockdown of PKCε could affect the mitochondrial membrane potential of human glioma cell lines, U251 and U87, and the growth of U251 cell-derived tumors in nude mice. We found that the expression of PKCε was greater in human glioma tissues than in human normal brain tissues. Knockdown of PKCε reduced mitochondrial membrane potential in U251 and U87 cells. Knockdown of PKCε also suppressed the growth of tumors derived from U251 cells and induced apoptosis of U251 cells in vivo. Our findings indicate that PKCε is important for development and progression of glioma and may be a potential therapeutic target for glioma treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Apoptosis
• glioma
• growth
• human
• mice
• mitochondrial membrane potential
• PKCε
• RNA interference

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant no. 82074162 and 82274344; Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning Youth Project, grant no. 20164Y0149; Shanghai Putuo District Health System Clinical Characteristic Special Disease Construction Project, grant no. 2023tszb04; Science and Technology Innovation Project of Putuo District Health System, grant no. ptkwws202301; and Project of “100 Professionals Training Plan” of Shanghai Putuo District Central Hospital, grant no. 2022-RCLH-02.