Decreased expression of LATS1 is correlated with the progression and prognosis of glioma

Background: LATS1 is a tumor suppressor genes implicated in the pathogenesis of certain types of tumors, but its role is not known in human glioma. Methods: Using real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry, we detected the mRNA and protein expression of LATS1 in glioma. The effect of LATS1 on cell growth and invasion were investigated. Results: We found that mRNA and protein of LATS1 expression is significantly downregulated in glioma compared with normal control brain tissues. Furthermore, reduced LATS1 expression was markedly negatively correlated with WHO grade and KPS (p<0.001 and p<0.001) in glioma patients. Patients with lower LATS1 expression had a significantly shorter overall survival time than did patients with higher LATS1 expression. Multivariate analysis suggested that the level of LATS1 expression was an independent prognostic indicator (p<0.001) for the survival of patients with glioma. Forced expression of LATS1 in glioma U251 cells not only significantly suppressed cell growth, migration and invasion, but retarded cell cycle progression from G2/M to G1 in vitro. Finally, we found that overexpressed LATS1 markedly inhibited the expression level of cell cycle factor CCNA1. Conclusion: These results indicate that LATS1 is an important candidate tumor suppressor and its downregulated expression may contribute to glioma progression.