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Background: Upregulation of CXCL8 (C-X-C motif ligand 8) in tumor cells has been reported in several types of cancer, and it correlates with a poor prognosis. However, the role of CXCL8 in glioma progression remains unknown.
Materials and methods: In this study, we examined CXCL8 expression levels in human glioma cell lines and in sixteen human gliomas with different grades. The molecular role of CXCL8 in glioma cells was investigated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays, Western blotting, CCK-8 assays, EdU assays, colony formation assays, Transwell migration and invasion assays.
Results: We found that high expression levels of CXCL8 were positively associated with progression and poor prognosis in human glioma. Mechanistically, CXCL8 promoted the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in glioma cells by activating the JAK/STAT1/HIF-1α/Snail signaling pathway.
Conclusion: Taken together, our data provide a plausible mechanism for CXCL8-modulated glioma progression, which suggests that CXCL8 may represent a potential therapeutic target in the prevention and treatment of gliomas.
Keywords: glioma, progression, CXCL8, JAK/STAT1/HIF-1α/Snail