scholarly journals Biology of Glioblastoma Multiforme—Exploration of Mitotic Catastrophe as a Potential Treatment Modality

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5324
Author(s):  
Barbora Vitovcova ◽  
Veronika Skarkova ◽  
Kamil Rudolf ◽  
Emil Rudolf

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) represents approximately 60% of all brain tumors in adults. This malignancy shows a high biological and genetic heterogeneity associated with exceptional aggressiveness, leading to a poor survival of patients. This review provides a summary of the basic biology of GBM cells with emphasis on cell cycle and cytoskeletal apparatus of these cells, in particular microtubules. Their involvement in the important oncosuppressive process called mitotic catastrophe will next be discussed along with select examples of microtubule-targeting agents, which are currently explored in this respect such as benzimidazole carbamate compounds. Select microtubule-targeting agents, in particular benzimidazole carbamates, induce G2/M cell cycle arrest and mitotic catastrophe in tumor cells including GBM, resulting in phenotypically variable cell fates such as mitotic death or mitotic slippage with subsequent cell demise or permanent arrest leading to senescence. Their effect is coupled with low toxicity in normal cells and not developed chemoresistance. Given the lack of efficient cytostatics or modern molecular target-specific compounds in the treatment of GBM, drugs inducing mitotic catastrophe might offer a new, efficient alternative to the existing clinical management of this at present incurable malignancy.

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 1243-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhang Su ◽  
Gang Li ◽  
Xulong Zhang ◽  
Jinhai Gu ◽  
Cai Zhang ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 734-750
Author(s):  
Wallax A.S. Ferreira ◽  
Rommel R. Burbano ◽  
Claudia do Ó. Pessoa ◽  
Maria L. Harada ◽  
Bárbara do Nascimento Borges ◽  
...  

Background: Pisosterol, a triterpene derived from Pisolithus tinctorius, exhibits potential antitumor activity in various malignancies. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate the pisosterol-specific effects on glioma cells remain unknown. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the antitumoral effects of pisosterol on glioma cell lines. Methods: The 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and trypan blue exclusion assays were used to evaluate the effect of pisosterol on cell proliferation and viability in glioma cells. The effect of pisosterol on the distribution of the cells in the cell cycle was performed by flow cytometry. The expression and methylation pattern of the promoter region of MYC, ATM, BCL2, BMI1, CASP3, CDK1, CDKN1A, CDKN2A, CDKN2B, CHEK1, MDM2, p14ARF and TP53 was analyzed by RT-qPCR, western blotting and bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP-PCR). Results: Here, it has been reported that pisosterol markedly induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis and decreased the cell viability and proliferation potential of glioma cells in a dose-dependent manner by increasing the expression of ATM, CASP3, CDK1, CDKN1A, CDKN2A, CDKN2B, CHEK1, p14ARF and TP53 and decreasing the expression of MYC, BCL2, BMI1 and MDM2. Pisosterol also triggered both caspase-independent and caspase-dependent apoptotic pathways by regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and activating caspase-3 and p53. Conclusions: It has been, for the first time, confirmed that the ATM/ATR signaling pathway is a critical mechanism for G2/M arrest in pisosterol-induced glioma cell cycle arrest and suggests that this compound might be a promising anticancer candidate for further investigation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 1753-1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Du ◽  
April L. Risinger ◽  
Jarrod B. King ◽  
Douglas R. Powell ◽  
Robert H. Cichewicz

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1790
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Malarz ◽  
Jacek Mularski ◽  
Michał Kuczak ◽  
Anna Mrozek-Wilczkiewicz ◽  
Robert Musiol

Sulfonates, unlike their derivatives, sulphonamides, have rarely been investigated for their anticancer activity. Unlike the well-known sulphonamides, esters are mainly used as convenient intermediates in a synthesis. Here, we present the first in-depth investigation of quinazoline sulfonates. A small series of derivatives were synthesized and tested for their anticancer activity. Based on their structural similarity, these compounds resemble tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the p53 reactivator CP-31398. Their biological activity profile, however, was more related to sulphonamides because there was a strong cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. Further investigation revealed a multitargeted mechanism of the action that corresponded to the p53 protein status in the cell. Although the compounds expressed a high submicromolar activity against leukemia and colon cancers, pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma were also susceptible. Apoptosis and autophagy were confirmed as the cell death modes that corresponded with the inhibition of metabolic activity and the activation of the p53-dependent and p53-independent pathways. Namely, there was a strong activation of the p62 protein and GADD44. Other proteins such as cdc2 were also expressed at a higher level. Moreover, the classical caspase-dependent pathway in leukemia was observed at a lower concentration, which again confirmed a multitargeted mechanism. It can therefore be concluded that the sulfonates of quinazolines can be regarded as promising scaffolds for developing anticancer agents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 682
Author(s):  
Jianling Bi ◽  
Garima Dixit ◽  
Yuping Zhang ◽  
Eric J. Devor ◽  
Haley A. Losh ◽  
...  

Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in tumor development and metastasis. Both bevacizumab and cediranib have demonstrated activity as single anti-angiogenic agents in endometrial cancer, though subsequent studies of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy failed to improve outcomes compared to chemotherapy alone. Our objective was to compare the efficacy of cediranib and bevacizumab in endometrial cancer models. The cellular effects of bevacizumab and cediranib were examined in endometrial cancer cell lines using extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, ligand shedding, cell viability, and cell cycle progression as readouts. Cellular viability was also tested in eight patient-derived organoid models of endometrial cancer. Finally, we performed a phosphoproteomic array of 875 phosphoproteins to define the signaling changes related to bevacizumab versus cediranib. Cediranib but not bevacizumab blocked ligand-mediated ERK activation in endometrial cancer cells. In both cell lines and patient-derived organoids, neither bevacizumab nor cediranib alone had a notable effect on cell viability. Cediranib but not bevacizumab promoted marked cell death when combined with chemotherapy. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated an accumulation in mitosis after treatment with cediranib + chemotherapy, consistent with the abrogation of the G2/M checkpoint and subsequent mitotic catastrophe. Molecular analysis of key controllers of the G2/M cell cycle checkpoint confirmed its abrogation. Phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that bevacizumab and cediranib had both similar and unique effects on cell signaling that underlie their shared versus individual actions as anti-angiogenic agents. An anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitor such as cediranib has the potential to be superior to bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy.


2004 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiqun Wang ◽  
Peter C. VanAlstyne ◽  
Kimberly A. Irons ◽  
She Chen ◽  
Jeanne W. Stewart ◽  
...  

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