GPBAR1 Promotes Proliferation and Is Related to Poor Prognosis of High-Grade Glioma via Inducing MAFB Expression

Background: Glioma is the most prevalent brain tumors with extremely poor prognosis, but the prognostic biomarkers of high-grade (grade III and IV) gliomas (HGG) are still insufficient. Methods In our study, we investigated the expression of GPBAR1 in HGG by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC), and evaluated the clinical significance of GPBAR1 with univariate and multivariate analyses. By retrieving the data from TCGA, we screened the genes significantly associated with GPBAR1, and identified the correlation between GPBAR1 and MAFB. By experiments in vitro , we showed the pivotal role of MAFB in GPBAR1-induced proliferation of HGG. Results GPBAR1 expression in HGGs was significantly higher than that in normal brain tissues. GPBAR1 was an independent prognostic biomarker of HGG. GPBAR1 promoted the proliferation of HGG by inducing MAFB expression. MAFB was also a prognostic biomarker of HGG, and patients with co-expression of MAFB and GPBAR1 had worse prognosis. Conclusions GPBAR1 promoted the proliferation of HGG by inducing MAFB expression. Both GPBAR1 and MAFB were prognostic biomarkers of HGG, and patients with co-expression of MAFB and GPBAR1 had worse prognosis than those with only GPBAR1 or MAFB expression.