Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common type of malignant brain tumor in adults. We show here that small molecule 2-[(3,4-dihydroquinolin-1(2H)-yl)(p-tolyl)methyl]phenol (THTMP), a potential anticancer agent, increases the human glioblastoma cell death. Its mechanism of action and the interaction of selective signaling pathways remain elusive. Three structurally related phenolic compounds were tested in multiple glioma cell lines in which the potential activity of the compound, THTMP, was further validated and characterized. Upon prolonged exposer to THTMP, all glioma cell lines undergo p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase mediated cell death with the IC50 concentration of 26.5 and 75.4 μM in LN229 and Snb19, respectively. We found that THTMP strongly inhibited cell growth in a dose and in time dependent manner. THTMP treatment led to G1/S cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction of glioma cell lines. Furthermore, we identified 3,714 genes with significant changes at the transcriptional level in response to THTMP. Further, a transcriptional analysis (RNA-seq) revealed that THTMP targeted the p53 signaling pathway specific genes causing DNA damage and cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase explained by the decrease of cyclin-dependent kinase 1, cyclin A2, cyclin E1 and E2 in glioma cells. Consistently, THTMP induced the apoptosis by regulating the expression of Bcl-2 family genes and reactive oxygen species while it also changed the expression of several anti-apoptotic genes. These observations suggest that THTMP exerts proliferation activity inhibition and pro-apoptosis effects in glioma through affecting cell cycle arrest and intrinsic apoptosis signaling. Importantly, THTMP has more potential at inhibiting GBM cell proliferation compared to TMZ, the current chemotherapy treatment administered to GBM patients; thus, we propose that THTMP may be an alternative therapeutic option for glioblastoma.