Downregulation of the miR-221/222 cluster diminished the invasion, migration, proliferation, and angiogenesis with reduced protein levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-9, and vascular endothelial growth factor in glioblastoma cells.
Glioblastoma in the elderly has been particularly associated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-dependent angiogenesis, and early uncontrolled studies suggested that the anti-angiogenic agent bevacizumab (BEV), an antibody to VEGF, might be preferentially active in this patient population.
Glioblastoma cancer stem-like cells (GCSCs) promote themselves proliferation by secreting the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF<sub>A</sub>) in an autocrine manner, positively regulated by phosphodiesterase IV (PDE4).
Loss of the tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is a prerequisite for tumor cell-specific expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2 in glioblastoma defining a subgroup prone to develop evasive resistance towards antiangiogenic treatments.
Coexpression of VEGF and 150-kDa oxygen-regulated protein (ORP), a novel ER chaperone, in human glioblastoma suggested a link between angiogenesis and ORP150.
In the current study, we found that FIH-1 is able to inhibit HIF-mediated transcription of GLUT1 and VEGF-A, even under hypoxic conditions in human glioblastoma cells.
In this study a soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (sFlt-1) and an angiostatin-endostatin fusion gene (statin-AE) were codelivered to human glioblastoma xenografts by nonviral gene transfer using the Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon.
The At-Lp showed great superiority in inhibition of tumor growth, anti-angiogenesis, expression of VEGF and apoptosis effect after in vivo application against nude mice bearing U87 MG glioblastoma without activation of system-associated toxicity and the innate immune response.
Therefore, while under normoxic conditions, EGF stimulates the activation of both the PI3K and the MAPK pathways and the induction of VEGF, in glioblastoma cells, hypoxic conditions lead to the suppression of the PI3K/RhoA/C pathway and an exclusive switch to the MAPK pathway.
Based on previous data on an autocrine function of VEGF in Flt-1-expressing glioblastoma cells we hypothesise that the X-ray radiation induced upregulation of VEGF might result in a downregulation of tumour cell proliferation and thus lead to a reduced sensitivity to radiation therapy.
The FDA approved the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab-awwb for the treatment of five types of cancer: nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and glioblastoma.
In this study, we isolated a small proportion of CD133+ GSCs from the human glioblastoma cell line U87 and found that these GSCs possessed multipotent differentiation potential and released high levels of VEGF as compared with CD133(-) tumour cells.
Furthermore, the recombinant protein Flag-L-VEGF144 and commercial VEGF protein have similar growth stimulatory activities in terms of inducing glioblastoma cell proliferation in vitro.