BACKGROUND Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a high-grade primary brain tumor that is refractory to current forms of treatment. In cell studies, the growth rate of GBM cells correlates with the level of Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme expression. COX-2 has been implicated in carcinogenesis of systemic cancers. Recently, COX-2 inhibition has been shown to increase the radiosensitivity of various ...

The overexpression of eyes absent (Eya) 2 has been found in several human cancers. However, its biological roles and clinical significance in human astrocytoma have not yet been explored. This study investigated the clinical significance and biological roles of Eya2 in human astrocytoma tissues and cell lines. Using immunohistochemistry, we found Eya2 overexpression in 33 out of 90 (36.7%) astr...

We previously found that BRCA1-BRCA2-containing complex subunit 3 (BRCC3) was highly expressed in tumorigenic rat glioma cells. However, the functional role of BRCC3 in human glioma cells remains to be characterized. This study indicated that the upregulation of BRCC3 expression was induced in two human malignant glioblastoma U251 and A172 cell lines following exposure to the alkylating agent, ...

The novel protein kinase C-beta inhibitor enzastaurin (ENZA) induced apoptosis in LNT-229 and T98G cells whereas A172 cells were resistant. Further, ENZA reduced proliferation in glioblastoma-initiating cells T 269 and T 323 but did not induce apoptosis. ENZA-induced apoptosis involved cleavage of caspases 3, 8, and 9 and led to mitochondrial cytochrome c release and was strongly suppressed by ...

OBJECTIVE Hyperthermia has been clinically applied to some types of brain tumors. However, the detailed mechanisms of this growth inhibition are not clear. The effect of mild hyperthermia on cultured human glioblastoma cell line, A172, was studied. METHODS A172 cells were heat treated (43-44.5 degrees C) for 1 hour in the growing phase. Cell viability was assessed by trypan blue dye exclusion...

The flavonoid quercetin has been reported to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, whereas it has no effect on nonneoplastic cells. U87-MG, U251, A172, LN229, and U373 malignant glioma cells were treated with quercetin (50-200 microM). Quercetin did not cause cytotoxicity 24 h after treatment. Combining quercetin with tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) strongly...

Erucylphosphocholine (ErPC) is a promising anti-neoplastic drug for the treatment of malignant brain tumours. It exerts strong anti-cancer activity in vivo and in vitro and induces apoptosis even in chemoresistant glioma cell lines. The purpose of this study was to expand on our previous observations on the potential mechanisms of ErPC-mediated apoptosis with a focus on death receptor activatio...

Gliomas are the most common malignant primary brain tumors, and new clinical biomarkers and therapeutic targets are imminently required. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of small non-coding RNAs (∼22nt) involved in the regulation of various biological processes. Here, by using real-time polymerase chain reaction, miRNA-132 was found to be significantly deregulated in glioma tissues. Based o...

Evidence sustains a role for the acute-phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA) in carcinogenesis and metastasis, and the protein has been suggested as a marker for tumor progression. Nevertheless, the demonstration of a direct activity of SAA on tumor cells is still incipient. We have investigated the effect of human recombinant SAA (rSAA) on two human glioma cell lines, A172 and T98G. rSAA stimula...