RNA interference-mediated USP22 gene silencing promotes human brain glioma apoptosis and induces cell cycle arrest

Ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) is a novel tumor stem cell marker that plays a key role in tumorigenesis and cell cycle progression. However, the effect of silencing the USP22 gene on human brain glioma cell growth is not well understood. In the present study, high gene expression of USP22 was identified in human brain glioma cells. In addition, RNA interference technology was used to silence USP22 gene expression in human brain glioma cells. Silencing the USP22 gene was found to effectively inhibit proliferation of human brain glioma cells, resulting in cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G(2)/M phase. USP22 silencing was also found to lead to reduced expression of cell cycle proteins, including CDK1, CDK2 and CyclinB1. In summary, in this study the USP22 gene was demonstrated to play a key regulatory role in the growth of human brain glioma cells by affecting progression of apoptosis and the cell cycle.