ObjectiveCraniopharyngiomas are rare histologically benign but clinically challenging neoplasms.The aim of this study is to explore the effect and significance of PI3K signal pathway on papillary craniopharyngioma cell growth and survival.MethodsWestern blotting (WB) was used to evaluate expression of the PI3K / AKT protein in Craniopharyngiomas tissues relative to health controls. Primary tumor cells were obtained from fresh papillary craniopharyngioma samples by primary cell culture and

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... ined by cell morphology, immunofluorescence staining and specific cell markers expression. In this study, PCPs cell lines, isolated from fresh papillary craniopharyngioma samples, were treated with different concentrations of LY294002, a specific inhibitor of the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway, in order to evaluate their proliferation, migration and invasion. The proliferation effects was determined using Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry. Furthermore, cell migration and invasion levels were detected by wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively.ResultsThe expression of p-PI3K and p-AKT were obviously higher in human craniopharyngioma tissue relative to their corresponding normal control. PCPs primary cells were isolated and detected by immunofluorescence, and PCPs cytokeratin (pan CK) and vimentin protein (VIM) were detected.The inhibition of PI3K / AKT signaling pathway can significantly inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCPs primary cells.ConclusionsLY294002 effectively inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCPs cells through the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway.