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Catalase Overexpression Drives an Aggressive Phenotype in Glioblastoma
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Catalase Overexpression Drives an Aggressive Phenotype in Glioblastoma

Susanne Flor, Claudia R Oliva, Md Yousuf Ali, Kristen L Coleman, Jeremy D Greenlee, Karra A Jones, Varun Monga and Corinne E Griguer
Antioxidants, Vol.10(12), p.1988
12/14/2021
DOI: 10.3390/antiox10121988
PMCID: PMC8750785
PMID: 34943091
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox10121988View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Glioblastoma remains the deadliest form of brain cancer, largely because these tumors become resistant to standard of care treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. Intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is necessary for chemo- and radiotherapy-induced cytotoxicity. Here, we assessed whether antioxidant catalase (CAT) affects glioma cell sensitivity to temozolomide and radiation. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas database, we found that CAT mRNA expression is upregulated in glioma tumor tissue compared with non-tumor tissue, and the level of expression negatively correlates with the overall survival of patients with high-grade glioma. In U251 glioma cells, CAT overexpression substantially decreased the basal level of hydrogen peroxide, enhanced anchorage-independent cell growth, and facilitated resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug temozolomide and ionizing radiation. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of CAT activity reduced the proliferation of glioma cells isolated from patient biopsy samples. Moreover, U251 cells overexpressing CAT formed neurospheres in neurobasal medium, whereas control cells did not, suggesting that the radio- and chemoresistance conferred by CAT may be due in part to the enrichment of glioma stem cell populations. Finally, CAT overexpression significantly decreased survival in an orthotopic mouse model of glioma. These results demonstrate that CAT regulates chemo- and radioresistance in human glioma.

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