Abstract
The NO and cGMP signaling pathways are of broad physiological and pathological significance. We compared the NO/soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC)/cGMP pathway in human glioma tissues and cell lines with that of healthy control samples and demonstrated that sGC expression is significantly lower in glioma preparations. Our analysis of GEO databases (National Cancer Institute) further revealed a statistically significant reduction of sGC transcript levels in human glioma specimens. On the other hand, the expression levels of particulate (membrane) guanylyl cyclases (pGC) and cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) were intact in the glioma cells that we have tested. Pharmacologically manipulating endogenous cGMP generation in glioma cells through either stimulating pGC by ANP/BNP, or blocking PDE by 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine/zaprinast caused significant inhibition of proliferation and colony formation of glioma cells. Genetically restoring sGC expression also correlated inversely with glioma cells growth. Orthotopic implantation of glioma cells transfected with an active mutant form of sGC (sGCα1β1Cys105) in athymic mice increased the survival time by 4-fold over the control. Histological analysis of xenografts overexpressing α1β1Cys105 sGC revealed changes in cellular architecture that resemble the morphology of normal cells. In addition, a decrease in angiogenesis contributed to glioma inhibition by sGC/cGMP therapy. Our study proposes the new concept that suppressed expression of sGC, a key enzyme in the NO/cGMP pathway, may be associated with an aggressive course of glioma. The sGC/cGMP signaling-targeted therapy may be a favorable alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy for glioma and perhaps other tumors.
Footnotes
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The online version of this article (available at http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org) contains supplemental material.This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences [Grant GM076695-02]; the John S. Dunn [Grants 74Y-1-9135, 000447] and Robert A. Welch Foundations [Grants AU-1437, L-AU-0002]; The Department of Defense [Grant T5-0004271project]; and The George Washington University. The work was also supported in part by the NHLBI Grant 5R01HL088128 [E.M.]. The authors sincerely thank the supports of Dr. Raymond Sawaya of the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Tumor Center of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org.
doi:10.1124/mol.111.073585.
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ABBREVIATIONS:
- cGMP
- cyclic 3′,5′-GMP
- sGC
- soluble guanylyl cyclase
- iNOS
- inducible nitric-oxide synthase
- PCR
- polymerase chain reaction
- IBMX
- 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine
- MTT
- 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide
- Bay41-2272
- 3-(4-amino-5-cyclopropylpyrimidine-2-yl)-1-(2-fluorobenzyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine
- Q-PCR
- quantitative polymerase chain reaction
- GC
- guanylyl cyclase
- pGC
- particulate guanylyl cyclase
- NPR
- natriuretic peptide receptor
- ANP
- atrial natriuretic peptide
- BNP
- brain natriuretic peptide
- PDE
- phosphodiesterase
- PKG
- cGMP-dependent protein kinase.
- Received May 16, 2011.
- Accepted September 9, 2011.
- Copyright © 2011 The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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