Glioblastoma is the most malignant and common brain tumor. To promote their growth, these glioma cells secrete a variety of soluble factors including plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), which functions as an inhibitor of plasminogen activators. We report here with the basis of microarray gene expression analysis that CXCR4 expressing glioma cells are capable of expressing PAI-1 mRNA and protein upon CXCL12 stimulation. Pretreatment with U0126, an inhibitor of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK) 1/2, abrogated CXCL12-induced PAI-1 expression. Pertussis toxin (PTX), an inhibitor of Gα_i proteins, also had inhibitory effects, indicating that the activation of Gα_i and ERK MAPK are required for this response. Interestingly, CXCL12 showed additive effects with another PAI-1 inducers, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and/or tumor growth factor (TGF)-β1, in increasing PAI-1 expression. These results indicate that CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling in glioma cells may be another mechanism for these cells to express PAI-1, which may be involved in angiogenesis and tumor invasion in brain tumors.