neurostatin and Glioma

Glial cells in the central nervous system of adult mammals outnumber neurons 10-fold. Their number remains stationary throughout adulthood, controlled by the concomitant presence of mitogens and mitogen inhibitors. The most abundant inhibitor, neurostatin, is ganglioside GD1b O-acetylated on hydroxyl 9 of its outermost sialic acid. Neurostatin inhibited the proliferation of primary microglia and astroblasts in culture (cytostatic) as well as both rodent and human glioma cells (cytotoxic) at nanomolar concentrations. At those concentrations neurostatin had no effect on non-glial lineage cells or differentiated glia. Neurostatin shows direct antimitotic activity on tumoral cells, interfering with multiple signals regulating cell cycle progression. But it also promotes indirectly total destruction of experimental rat brain glioma, presumably by making it visible to the host immune system and activating CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes. Neurostatin could be a new anti-inflammatory agent, with multiple convergent direct and indirect actions on glioma growth, a pathology without satisfactory clinical treatment. Neurostatin is produced by neurons but its expression is up-regulated by neuron-astrocyte contact. The action of neurostatin could be mediated by a number of receptor proteins, including integrins, Toll-like receptors and siglecs.. Glicolipidos neuronales regulan negativamente la division glial durante el desarrollo y tras una lesion.. En el sistema nervioso central de los mamiferos, las celulas gliales superan diez veces en numero a las neuronas. Su numero permanente estacionario durante la edad adulta, controlado por la presencia simultanea de mitogenos gliales e inhibidores de esos mitogenos. El inhibidor mas abundante, la neurostatina, es el gangliosido GD1b O-acetilado en el grupo 9 del acido sialico mas externo. La neurostatina y los oligosacaridos sinteticos inhiben la proliferacion de astroblastos en cultivo primario (citostaticos) y de celulas de gliomas (citotoxicos), tanto de roedores como de humanos, en concentracion nanomolar. A esas concentraciones, la neurostatina no tuvo efecto sobre celulas de linaje no glial ni sobre glia madura. La neurostatina y sus analogos mostraron actividad antimitotica directa sobre las celulas tumorales, interfiriendo con la progresion del ciclo celular en multiples sitios, pero tambien actuaron indirectamente, haciendo visibles las celulas tumorales al sistema inmune del huesped y activando linfocitos CD4+ y CD8+. Analogos de neurostatina podrian generar nuevos farmacos antiinflamatorios, con multiples acciones directas e indirectas contra el crecimiento de gliomas, una patologia todavia sin tratamiento clinico satisfactorio. La neurostatina es producida por las neuronas, pero el contacto de estas con astrocitos estimula notablemente su expresion. La accion de la neurostatina puede estar mediada por numerosas proteinas receptoras, incluyendo integrinas, siglecs y receptores Toll-like.

Topics: Animals; Brain Injuries; Carbohydrate Conformation; Carbohydrate Sequence; Cell Division; Cicatrix; Epidermal Growth Factor; Gangliosides; Glioma; Glycolipids; Glycosphingolipids; Humans; Integrins; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Macrophages; Mammals; Mice; Neural Stem Cells; Neurogenesis; Neuroglia; Neurons; Spinal Cord Injuries; Toll-Like Receptors; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Neurostatin, a natural glycosphingolipid, and NF115, a synthetic glycolipid, are inhibitors of glioma growth. While neurostatin shows high inhibitory activity on gliomas its abundance is low in mammalian brain. On the contrary NF115 exhibits less inhibitory activity on gliomas, but could be prepared by chemical synthesis. In this study we describe synthetic compounds, structurally related to NF115, capable of inhibiting glioma growth at low micromolar range. We used DNA microarray technology to compare the genes inhibited in U373-MG human glioma cells after treatment with the natural or synthetic inhibitor. New synthetic compounds were developed to interact with the product of Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor alpha gene, which was repressed in both treatments. Compounds that were inhibitors of glioma cell growth in assays for [3H]-thymidine incorporation were then injected in C6 tumor bearing rats and the tumor size in each animal group were measured. The GC-17, GC-4 and IG-5 are new compounds derived from NF115 and showed high antiproliferative activity on tumor cell lines. The GC-17 compound inhibited U373-MG glioblastoma cells (3.2 μM), the effects was fifty times more potent than NF115, and caused a significant reduction of tumor volume (P<0.05) when tested in Wistar rats allotransplanted with C6 glioma cells.

Topics: Acetylglucosamine; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Gene Expression Regulation; Glioma; Glycolipids; Glycosphingolipids; Humans; Microarray Analysis; Propylene Glycols; rho Guanine Nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitor alpha

The high frequency and malignancy of human glioblastomas has stimulated the search for potential therapeutic approaches. The control of the glioma cell proliferation in response to mitogenic signals is one of the most promising antitumoral strategies, and the main target of several therapies. Neurostatin, an O-acetylated derivative of the ganglioside GD1b, has potent antiproliferative activity over the in vitro and in vivo growth of glioma cells. The mechanism of its antitumoral action is the focus of the present study. Using a combined in vitro-in vivo approach, we observed that neurostatin arrested glioma proliferation by inhibiting the expression of cell cycle promoters (i.e. cyclins and CDKs) and promoting the expression of cell cycle inhibitors (i.e. p21 and p27). Neurostatin inhibits epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathways, blocking the activation of the main promitogenic MAPKs and PI3K pathways. Neurostatin action not only interferes in the cell cycle progression, but also in the protection from apoptosis, and the generation of angiogenic and invasive responses. The antitumoral actions described here point to neurostatin as a novel and promising chemotherapeutic agent for glioma treatment.

Topics: Animals; Cell Cycle; Cell Line, Tumor; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27; Cyclin-Dependent Kinases; Cyclins; ErbB Receptors; Female; Glioma; Glycosphingolipids; Humans; Mice; Mice, Nude; Neoplasm Transplantation; Transplantation, Heterologous

O-acetyl-ganglioside neurostatin, (Galbeta1-->3GalNAcbeta1-->4[9-O-Ac Neu5Acalpha2-->8Neu5Acalpha2-->3]Galbeta1-->4Glcbeta1-->1'-ceramide), is a natural GD1b-derived inhibitor of astroblast and astrocytoma division, whose structure and purification method limits its availability and stability. Therefore, we set-up the reaction to obtain O-acetylated and O-butyrylated neurostatin analogs by chemical synthesis, in order to improve its availability and stability. The compounds antitumoral activity was evaluated on U373MG and C6 glioblastoma cells, observing that the O-acetylation-dependent increase in the inhibitory activity was enhanced by O-butyrylation, with no further improvement with the multi-substitution, pointing to the initial conformational change and the stability change as responsible of its function. These results open the possibility for the application of the neurostatin-related compounds to in-vivo tumoral models.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; Glioma; Glycosphingolipids; Humans; Rats; Structure-Activity Relationship

In spite of their low incidence, central nervous system tumors have elevated morbidity and mortality, being responsible for 2.3% of total cancer deaths. The ganglioside O-acetylated GD1b (O-Ac GD1b; neurostatin), present in the mammalian brain, and the semi-synthetic O-butyrylated GD1b (O-But GD1b) are potent glioma proliferation inhibitors, appearing as possible candidates for the treatment of nervous system tumors. Tumoral cell division inhibitory activity in culture correlated with growth inhibition of glioma xenotransplants in Foxn1(nu) nude mice and intracranial glioma allotransplants. Both O-Ac GD1b and O-But GD1b inhibited in vivo cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest, and potentiated immune cell response to the tumor. Furthermore, the increased stability of the butyrylated compound (O-But GD1b) enhanced its activity with respect to the acetylated ganglioside (neurostatin). These results are the first report of the antitumoral activity of neurostatin and a neurostatin-like compound in vivo and indicate that semi-synthetic O-acetylated and O-butyrylated gangliosides are potent antitumoral compounds that should be considered in strategies for brain tumor treatment.

Topics: Acetylation; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Blotting, Western; Brain Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Cell Separation; Flow Cytometry; Gangliosides; Glioma; Glycosphingolipids; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Mice; Mice, Nude; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Neurostatin was originally described as an inhibitor of astroblast and astrocytoma division present in rat brain extracts and immunologically related to the sugar moiety of epidermal growth factor receptor and to blood group antigens. It was purified recently from mammalian brain extracts and characterized as a glycosphingolipid, but its precise structure remained unknown. Neurostatin has now been purified to apparent homogeneity from ganglioside extracts of rat, bovine, and porcine brain. It is cytostatic for astroblasts, C6 glioma cells, and various human astrocytomas grades III and IV, with IC(50) values ranging from 250 to 450 nM, but does not affect the division of primary or transformed fibroblasts up to concentrations >4 microM. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of purified pig neurostatin showed a molecular ion of 1, 905 Da and ions of 1,863 and 1,934 Da, compatible with a disialoganglioside. Mono- and bidimensional NMR spectra, together with biochemical studies, suggest that neurostatin may be the 9-O-monoacetyl ester of GD1b.

Topics: 3T3 Cells; Alkalies; Animals; Astrocytes; Cattle; Cell Division; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Culture Media; DEAE-Cellulose; Fetal Proteins; Glioma; Glycosphingolipids; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Mammals; Mice; Neocortex; Neuraminidase; Protons; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; Tumor Cells, Cultured