Abstract
Glioblastoma is the most common and malignant brain tumor in humans. It is a heterogeneous tumor harboring glioblastoma stem cells (GSC) and other glioblastoma cells that survive and sustain tumor growth in a hypoxic environment via induction of autophagy and resistance to apoptosis. So, a therapeutic strategy to inhibit autophagy and promote apoptosis could greatly help control growth of glioblastoma. We created hypoxia using sodium sulfite (SS) for induction of substantiated autophagy in human GSC and glioblastoma SNB19 cells. Induction of autophagy was confirmed by acridine orange (AO) staining and significant increase in Beclin-1 in autophagic cells. microRNA database (miRDB) search suggested that miR-30e could suppress the autophagy marker Beclin-1 and also inhibit the caspase activation inhibitors (AVEN and BIRC6). Pro-apoptotic effect of proanthocyanidin (PAC) has not yet been explored in glioblastoma cells. Combination of 50 nM miR-30e and 150 μM PAC acted synergistically for inhibition of viability in both cells. This combination therapy most effectively altered expression of molecules for inhibition of autophagy and induced extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis through suppression of AVEN and BIRC6. Collectively, combination of miR-30e and PAC is a promising therapeutic strategy to inhibit autophagy and increase apoptosis in GSC and SNB19 cells.