Glioma is the most common primary brain tumor and represents one of the most aggressive and lethal types of human cancer. Recent advances have implicated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as crucial mediators of cancer development and progression. The present study aimed to investigate the role of a newly‑discovered lncRNA, termed eosinophil granule ontogeny transcript (EGOT), in the aggressive abilities of cells in human glioma. It was initially found that the relative transcription level of EGOT in glioma cancerous tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent non‑cancerous tissues. EGOT was differentially expressed in a series of glioma cell lines, with its lowest level in high aggressive U251 and U87 cells. When EGOT was overexpressed by an expression plasmid, cell viability was significantly inhibited in U251 and U87 cells. Furthermore, with EGOT overexpression, the cell cycle was arrested at G0/G1 phase and consequently, cell apoptosis was significantly promoted along with the activities of caspase‑3 and caspase‑9. The migration abilities of EGOT‑overexpressed cells were inhibited by 71.4% in U251 cells and by 69.5% in U87 cells. These data suggest that overexpression of EGOT inhibits cell proliferation and migration, and promotes cell apoptosis in glioma. Therefore, EGOT has potent anticancer activity and may function as a tumor suppressor in human glioma.

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