Induction of tumor cell apoptosis in human glioblastoma cell lines by cationic peptides

Background: Glioblastoma is very aggressive polymorphic brain tumor that is often chemo- and radio-resistant. This feature is related with glioma stem-like cells as well as with non-stem changeable cells from glioblastoma’s cell population. Search for molecular targets to overcome such resistance and to improve the effectiveness of therapy is one of the major challenges in applied molecular oncology. Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze a selective cytotoxicity of two cationic peptides (CPs) detected on two stable primary glioblastoma cell lines Glb0Sh and Glb-17. Induction of apoptosis in the cultures of recurrent glioblastoma cells and lack of cytotoxicity in normal cells was revealed by MTT assay, immunocytochemistry visualization of tumor cells after incubation with fluorescently labeled CP, RT PCR and western blotting. Results: We firstly confirm that chaperone proteins nucleolin/NCL and nucleophosmin/ NPM serve as cell molecular targets for CPs under study which has shown high selective cytotoxicity in two stable glioblastoma cell lines. These CPs are of interest for in vivo experiments as a promising anticancer agents.