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EphB4 is overexpressed in gliomas and promotes the growth of glioma cells

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Glioma is one of the most common solid tumors, and the molecular mechanism for this disease is poorly understood. EphB4 tyrosine kinase receptor has been involved in various physiologic and pathologic processes, and the role of EphB4 in tumorigenesis has recently attracted much interest. However, its function in glioma remains largely unknown. In this study, we explored the function of EphB4 in glioma. We found that the expression of EphB4 was significantly upregulated in clinical glioma samples. Overexpression of EphB4 in glioma cell lines accelerated cell growth and tumorigenesis. In contrast, downregulation of EphB4 inhibited cell growth. Furthermore, we showed that EphB4 promoted cell growth by promoting EGFR signaling. Taken together, our findings suggest that EphB4 plays an important role in the progression of glioma by stimulating cell growth and EphB4 might be a potential therapeutic target for glioma.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the key laboratory construction grant (no. SW201110010) from Science, Industry, Trade and Information Technology Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, and by the grants from the Shanghai Science and Technology Development Fund (10JC1409802), the Scientific Research and Innovation of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (11YZ50), and the Wu Jieping Medical Foundation (320.6750.11092).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease for Allergy at Shengzhen University, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Nanhai Ave. 3688, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518060, People’s Republic of China

    Tao Chen, Xiaoyu Liu & Zhigang Liu

  2. Teaching and Research Section of Epidemiology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410006, People’s Republic of China

    Shanghui Yi

  3. Operation Room, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200127, People’s Republic of China

    Jiannan Zhang

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200127, People’s Republic of China

    Jianwei Ge

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  1. Tao Chen
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  2. Xiaoyu Liu
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  3. Shanghui Yi
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  4. Jiannan Zhang
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  5. Jianwei Ge
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  6. Zhigang Liu
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Correspondence to Jianwei Ge or Zhigang Liu.

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Chen, T., Liu, X., Yi, S. et al. EphB4 is overexpressed in gliomas and promotes the growth of glioma cells. Tumor Biol. 34, 379–385 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0560-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0560-7

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