OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of phosphoinositide 4-phosphate (PI4P) on human glioma U87 cells and the mechanism of action of PI4P in the development of human glioma through the overexpression or silencing of PI4P in human glioma U87 cells, and to provide a new target for basic research and clinical treatment of glioma.

METHODSLV-Helper1, LV-Helper2, pWPXLd-PI4P, and pLL3.7-shPI4P were used to package pWPXLd-PI4P and pLL3.7-shPI4P lentiviruses. The U87-GFP (PI4P-overexpression control group), U87-GFP-PI4P (PI4P-overexpression experimental group), U87-Scramble (PI4P-silencing control group), and U87-shPI4P (PI4P-silencing experimental group) cell lines were established. Wound-healing assay and Transwell assay were used to evaluate cell migration and invasion, and Western blot was used to measure the expression of PI4P in each group.

RESULTSWestern blot detected the expression of exogenous PI4P in the U87-GFP-PI4P cell line, and the U87-shPI4P cell line showed reduced expression of PI4P compared with the U87-Scramble cell line in the control group. The U87-GFP-PI4P cell line with PI4P overexpression had a significantly stronger ability of migration than the U87-GFP cell line in the control group (P<0.01); the U87-shPI4P cell line with PI4P silencing had a reduced ability of migration than the U87-Scramble cell line in the control group (P<0.01). The U87 cell line with PI4P overexpression had a significantly stronger invasion ability than the control group (P<0.05); after PI4P silencing, the experimental group showed a significant reduction in invasion ability compared with the control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIn human glioma U87 cells, PI4P can promote the invasion and migration of glioma cells and may become a new target in the basic research and clinical treatment of glioma.