Actin, alpha, cardiac muscle 1 (ACTC1) knockdown inhibits the migration of glioblastoma cells in vitro.

Background: Recurrence is inevitable in glioblastomas (GBMs) and requires multifactorial processes. One of the factors that cause recurrence is the strong migratory capacity of GBM cells. We recently reported that actin, alpha, cardiac muscle 1 (ACTC1) could serve as a marker to detect GBM migration in clinical cases.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify whether the knockdown of highly expressed ACTC1 can inhibit the migratory capacity of cells in the GBM cell line.

Methods: ACTC1 expression was examined using immunocytochemistry and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction. The motility of GBM cells that were either treated with siRNA to knock down ACTC1 or untreated were investigated using a time-lapse study in vitro.

Results: The relatively high ACTC1 expression was confirmed in a GBM cell line, i.e., U87MG. The ACTC1 expression in U87MG cells was significantly inhibited by ACTC1-siRNA (p < 0.05). A cell movement tracking assay using time-lapse imaging demonstrated the inhibition of U87MG cell migration by ACTC1 knockdown. The quantitative cell migration analysis demonstrated that the distance traversed during 72 h was 3607 ± 458 (median ± SD) μm by untreated U87MG cells and 3570 ± 748 μm by negative control siRNA-treated cells. However, the distance migrated by ACTC1-siRNA-treated cells during 72 h was significantly shorter (1265 ± 457 μm, p < 0.01) than the controls.

Conclusion: ACTC1 knockdown inhibits U87MG cell migration.