Overexpression of NIMA-related kinase 2 is associated with poor prognoses in malignant glioma.
Eleated expression of NIMA-related kinase 2 (NEK2) was frequently observed in a variety of malignant cancers, and it appears to be involved in the initiation, maintenance, progression, metastasis of cancer and is positively associated with poor prognosis. We sought to investigate NEK2 expression and its predictive roles in malignant gliomas, and study the correlation of NEK2 protein expression with proliferation, clinical parameters, overall survival and some other parameters. We investigate NEK2 protein expression in 99 samples of malignant gliomas, including 35 WHO grade II, 22 grade III, and 42 grade IV gliomas, by immunohistochemistry and western blot (n = 50). We then made correlative analysis of protein overexpression using the Kaplan-Meier method, Log rank test, and Cox proportional-hazards model analysis. NEK2 protein was overexpressed in malignant gliomas, but not in normal brain tissues. Overexpression of NEK2 correlated with malignancy, proliferation and adverse overall survival in gliomas. Moreover, chemotherapy, resection extent and WHO grade also correlate with overall survival in gliomas. However, within WHO grade II glioma subgroup, NEK2 overexpression showed no impact on overall survival. The present study firstly reveals that NEK2 protein is widely overexpressed in gliomas. NEK2 overexpression correlates significantly with malignancy (WHO grades), proliferation (Ki-67) and prognosis in malignant gliomas. NEK2 is a potential gene therapy target and prognostic indicator.
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwuweiqi Street, Jinan, 250021, People's Republic of China.|Department of Bone Trauma and Neurosurgery, Qilu Children's Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, 250011, People's Republic of China.
Huajie
H
Liu
Department of Neurosurgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.|Department of Neurosurgery, Qianfoshan Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, 250014, China.
Bin
B
Liu
Department of Neurosurgery, Qianfoshan Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, 250014, China.
Xianzeng
X
Hou
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, 250012, China.
Bo
B
Pang
Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, 250012, China.
Pengbo
P
Guo
Department of Medical Imaging, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250011, People's Republic of China.
Wanli
W
Jiang
Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, 250021, China.
Qian
Q
Ding
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwuweiqi Street, Jinan, 250021, People's Republic of China.
Rui
R
Zhang
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwuweiqi Street, Jinan, 250021, People's Republic of China.
Tao
T
Xin
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwuweiqi Street, Jinan, 250021, People's Republic of China.
Hua
H
Guo
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwuweiqi Street, Jinan, 250021, People's Republic of China. shangchenxu@sina.com.
Shangchen
S
Xu
Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwuweiqi Street, Jinan, 250021, People's Republic of China. pangqisdu@126.com.
Qi
Q
Pang
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D000072379:NIMA-Related Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C089441:NEK2 protein, human; D000072379:NIMA-Related Kinases
Glioma; NIMA-related kinase 2; Overexpression; Prognosis; Tumorigenesis