The expression of SALL4 was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines, and an inverse correlation was observed between the miR-181b and SALL4 expression levels in glioma.
Finally, we found that SALL4 was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues compared to normal brain tissues, and its levels were markedly higher in the glioma tissues at stages T2-T4 compared to those at stage T1.
Analysis using glioma and normal brain tissues revealed that SALL4 was positively proportionated to glioma cell differentiation with high sensitivity (92.59 %) and specificity (85.71 %).
Therefore, our results demonstrate upregulation of miR-107 suppressed glioma cell growth through direct targeting of SALL4, leading to the activation of FADD/caspase-8/caspase-3/7 signaling pathway of cell apoptosis.