Abstract
The insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 (IGFBP6), as an inhibitor of IGF-II actions, plays an important role in inhibiting survival and migration of tumor cells. In our study, we intended to demonstrate the biological function of IGFBP6 in the development of glioma and its clinical significance. Firstly, Western blot and immunohistochemistry revealed that the expression of IGFBP6 inversely correlated with glioma grade. Secondly, multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that IGFBP6 could be an independent prognostic factor for the survival of glioma patients. In addition, overexpression of IGFBP6 induced glioma cell apoptosis, and depletion of IGFBP6 had the opposite action. Finally, overexpression of IGFBP6 inhibited migration of glioma cells, and depletion of IGFBP6 had the opposite action. Together our findings suggest that IGFBP6 might be an important regulator and prognostic factor for glioma.