OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of CCN3 in glioblastoma cells and its influence on migration. STUDY DESIGN: The expressions of CCN3 in glioblastoma cells A172 and U87 were detected by real-time quantitative PCR and ELISA. A172 cells were cultured in a medium containing 10 ng/mL CCN3 and 2% fetal bovine serum for 7 days to establish a culture system. The effects of CCN3 on cell proliferation and migration were detected by MTS assay and transwell assay, respectively. RESULTS: Real-time PCR and ELISA showed that the CCN3 expression in lowly malignant A172 cells was significantly lower than that in highly malignant U87 cells. The MTS assay exhibited that there was no significant difference in the proliferation between CCN3-stimulated and control A172 cells, suggesting that CCN3 may not be related to cell proliferation. The transwell assay revealed that CCN3 obviously affected the migration of A172 cells and that the invasive ability of U87 cells with endogenous high expression of CCN3 exceeded that of A172 cells. CONCLUSION: CCN3 expression may be closely associated with the degree of malignancy of glioblastomas, relevant to the migration ability but irrelevant to the proliferation ability. © Science Printers and Publishers, Inc.