Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme is the most aggressive and common primary brain tumor, and is virtually incurable due to its therapeutic resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. Curcumin is a well-known phytochemical exhibiting antitumor activity on many human cancers including glioblastoma multiforme. Given the unique miRNA expression profiles in cancer cells compared to non-cancerous cells, we investigated whether these miRNA could be used to cancer therapy. In this report we show that miR-378, a glioblastoma multiforme down regulated miRNA, may enhance the inhibitory effect of curcumin on this cancer growth. Our results indicated that the inhibitory effect of curcumin was enhanced in miR-378-expressing stable U87 cells in vitro and in vivo, compared to control cells. MiR-378 was found to target p-p38 expression, underlying the observed phenotypic changes. Thus, we concluded that miR-378 enhances the response of glioblastoma multiforme to curcumin treatment, by targeting p38.