SynCAM, a novel putative tumor suppressor, suppresses growth and invasiveness of glioblastoma

SynCAM, also named by TSLC1, SgIGSF and IGSF4, was identified as a neural tissue-specific immunoglobulin-like cell-cell adhesion molecule. However, the role of SynCAM in tumorigenesis remains elusive. We aimed to clarify its epigenetic regulation and biological functions in glioblastoma. SynCAM was silenced in 72 % (5/7) glioblastoma cell lines. A significant downregulation was also detected in paired glioblastoma tumors compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues. In contrast, SynCAM was readily expressed in various normal adult brain tissues. Ectopic expression of SynCAM in the silenced cancer cell line T98G significantly reduced colony formation and cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrests and repressed cell invasive ability. Nude mice were subcutaneously injected into the flank with T98G cells and treated with normal saline, pcDNA3.1 (vector) or pcDNA3.1-SynCAM, respectively. Treatment with pcDNA3.1-SynCAM retarded growth in the xenografts, which contributed to a 58 % decrease in tumor volume compared to controls. In conclusion, our results suggest that SynCAM suppressions growth of glioblastoma and may serve as a novel functional tumor-suppressor gene.