LncRNA FTX Involves in the Nogo-66-Induced Inhibition of Neurite Outgrowth Through Regulating PDK1/PKB/GSK-3ß Pathway.

Nogo-66 can inhibit neurite outgrowth, while its regulation mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Recent studies prove that lncRNAs are involved in neurite outgrowth. This study was aimed to investigate whether lncRNA FTX was involved in Nogo-66-induced inhibition of neurite outgrowth and explore the potential mechanism. The expression of relative genes was detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. The function of FTX was determined by overexpression and knockdown techniques. The interaction between FTX and PDK1 was evaluated by RIP and RNA pull-down assays. FTX expression was downregulated by Nogo-66 in PC12 cells. Nogo-66-induced inhibition of neurite outgrowth was relieved by FTX overexpression. FTX bound to PDK1 protein to disturb the interaction between PDK1 and E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF126, thereby blocked the ubiquitination degradation of PDK1 and elevated PDK1 protein level. Mechanically, FTX involved in the Nogo-66-induced inhibition of neurite outgrowth through the PDK1/PKB/GSK-3ß pathway. In SCI rats, FTX knockdown inhibited neurite outgrowth induced by the receptor antagonist of Nogo-66. The present results suggested that FTX took part in Nogo-66-inhibited neurite outgrowth, and FTX exerted its function through regulating PDK1/PKB/GSK-3ß pathway.

PAS Domain Containing Repressor 1 (PASD1) Promotes Glioma Cell Proliferation Through Inhibiting Apoptosis In Vitro.

BACKGROUND PAS domain containing repressor 1 (PASD1), the cancer-testis antigen (CTA), has been reported to be aberrantly expressed in various cancer tissues and cancer cell lines; however, normal PASD1 expression can be detected in normal tissue, excluding testicular tissue. Moreover, PASD1 is reported to be abnormally expressed in various malignant tumors. However, it remains unclear whether PASD1 participates in tumorigenesis of glioma. MATERIAL AND METHODS PASD1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in 155 glioma tissue specimens in this study. Furthermore, the relationship of PASD1 expression with clinicopathological features in glioma cases was statistically analyzed. In addition, PASD1 was knocked down by small interference RNA (shRNA) in glioma cell line (LN229), so as to assess the potential to use it as the target for treating glioma. RESULTS Our findings suggested that PASD1 expression in glioma patients was extremely upregulated compared with that in normal tissue samples and cell lines. Moreover, PASD1 expression was found to be markedly correlated with gender, The World Health Organization grade and p53 expression; in addition, high PASD1 expression indicated poor prognosis for glioma patients. Additionally, downregulation of PASD1 inhibited the proliferation ability of cells and resulted in cell arrest at the G2/M phase, which was achieved through accelerating apoptosis. Furthermore, our results indicated that PASD1 downregulation could upregulate some apoptosis-modulating proteins at the same time it downregulated some cycle-regulating proteins. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, our findings demonstrated that PASD1, an oncogene, can potentially serve as an independent prognostic factor for glioma patients.

The expression of ATF3, MMP-2 and maspin in tissue chip of glioma.

This paper tested and analyzed the expression of ATF3 (activating transcription factor), MMP-2 (matrix metalloprotease) and maspin in tissue chip of glioma and its correlation with glioma advancement. Based on immunohistochemical staining, this paper selected 100 patients with glioma and 13 healthy persons to test the relative expression of ATF3, MMP-2 and maspin. The result witnessed 72.0% of ATF3 expression in glioma and 15.4% in healthy brain tissues with P<0.05; glioma had 76.0% of MMP-2 expression while healthy brain tissues only had 7.7% (P<0.05); but maspin expression with 53.0% in glioma was much lower than that with 100% in healthy tissues with P<0.05. If the pathological stage of glioma rose up, the expression of ATF3 and MMP-2 accordingly increased while maspin expression decreased. The correlation between ATF3 expression and MMP-2 expression was positive with r=0.553 and p<0.01; negative correlation between ATF3 expression and maspin expression was found with r=-0.457 and p<0.01; and the expression of MMP-2 and maspin were negatively related with r=-0.551 and p<0.01. According to the above results, it could be concluded that the expression of ATF3, MMP-2 and maspin did relate with each other. Besides, the high expression of ATF3 and MMP-2 as well as the low expression of maspin had great influence on glioma, playing a key role in glioma's occurrence, advancement, invasion and metastasis.

Norcantharidin induces growth inhibition and apoptosis of glioma cells by blocking the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway.

BACKGROUND: Malignant gliomas represent the most common primary brain tumors. The prognosis of patients with malignant gliomas is poor in spite of current intensive therapy and novel therapeutic modalities are needed. Here we report that norcantharidin is effective in growth inhibition of glioma cell lines in vitro. METHODS: Glioma cell lines (U87 and C6) were treated with norcantharidin. The effects of norcantharidin on the proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cells were measured by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-thiazolyl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry. Western blotting was employed to determine the signaling pathway changes. RESULTS: The results showed that norcantharidin effectively inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in glioma cells, which was concurrent with inhibition of the expression of phospho-MEK and phospho-ERK. Furthermore, the expression anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 significantly reduced, but no changes in Bcl-xL and Bax. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that norcantharidin is effective for growth inhibition of glioma cell lines and suggest that norcantharidin may be a new therapeutic option for patients with glioma.

Endovascular treatment of chronic, recurrent headache secondary to chronic cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

Headache is a clinical diagnosis linked to a number of medical and surgical disorders. A common etiology has not yet been established. It would seem that these cases can be related to some degree of cerebral venous outflow obstruction. We report 2 cases of chronic superior sagittal sinus thrombosis causing isolated intracranial hypertension. The patients were treated with intrasinus thrombolytic therapy.

Reconstructive endovascular treatment of vertical stenosis associated with adjacent aneurysm at the same arterial anatomic segment.

One case had a symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis coupled with a coincidental unruptured cerebral aneurysm at the same arterial anatomic segment. And another case had an asymptomatic vertebral artery stenosis coupled with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm at the same arterial anatomic segment. They underwent intracranial stenting. Both lesions were treated successfully and neither complications nor strokes occurred after the procedures. Covered stent placement in an intracranial stenosis with an adjacent ruptured or unruptured aneurysm may be a feasible method.

Andrographolide protects against cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation through activation of heme oxygenase-1.

This study was conducted to check whether andrographolide, a bioactive molecule isolated from Andrographis paniculata, could protect against cigarette smoke (CS)-induced lung injury through activation of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Pretreatment with andrographolide (1 mg/kg body weight) markedly attenuated lung inflammation in CS-exposed mice, coupled with reduced numbers of total cells, neutrophils, and macrophages in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and decreased production of cytokine/chemokine into BALF. Furthermore, andrographolide pretreatment increased the expression and activation of HO-1 in the lung of CS-exposed animals. Notably, these histological and biochemical changes induced by andrographolide were blocked by prior administration of zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP; 20 mg/kg body weight), a potent heme oxygenase inhibitor. Moreover, andrographolide-induced phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was attenuated by ZnPP treatment in CS-exposed animals. Our data collectively demonstrate that andrographolide confers protection against CS-induced lung inflammation, partially through activation of HO-1 and STAT3.

Clinical features and surgical management of four peculiar cases of intracranial metastases from renal cell carcinoma.

Intracranial metastasis from renal cell carcinoma is rare. In this study, four patients (age range 56-72 years) were treated for intracranial metastases from renal cell carcinoma. The metastasis was solitary in all four patients and was located in the temporoparietal region in two patients, cerebellum in one patient, and bilateral lateral ventricles in one patient. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging showed hemorrhage and necrosis in the tumor in all four patients, and one patient had edema in the region of the tumor. All patients were treated with craniotomy for tumor resection, and histopathologic examination showed clear cell carcinoma. Marked bleeding occurred in all patients during the operation, but preoperative direct injection of ethanol into epidural metastases (2 patients) was effective in decreasing intraoperative blood loss. Prognosis was poor with limited survival time (range 2 weeks-45 months), but prognosis was best in the two patients who were treated with postoperative radiation therapy and chemotherapy (survival times 26 and 45 months). To our knowledge, this is the largest report of four uncommon intracranial metastases from RCC in Chinese patients. In summary, intracranial metastasis from renal cell carcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intracranial tumor because of the high risk of bleeding and poor prognosis.

Emergent angioplasty and stent placement recanalization without thrombolysis in acute middle cerebral artery occlusions.

A significant proportion of patients with infarcts from large-vessel lesions have shown a poor response to systemic thrombolysis. Stents have been used to recanalize occluded or severely stenosed intracranial arteries in patients with acute stroke. This study evaluated the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of intracranial artery recanalization for acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion using emergent angioplasty and stent placement without thrombolysis. All patients from a retrospectively collected database who met the inclusion criteria and were treated with an intracranial stent for acute MCA occlusion were included. Treatment comprised angioplasty and stenting without interventional thrombolytic therapy. Recanalization was assessed by angiography immediately after stent placement based on the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) score. Complications related to the procedure and outcomes were assessed. Neurologic status was evaluated before and after treatment. Eleven patients were treated with emergent angioplasty and stent placement. Partial or complete recanalization (TIMI 2 and 3) was achieved in 11 patients (100%) assessed by digital subtraction angiography immediately after MCA stenting. One patient died due to reocclusion of MCA 2 days after the procedure. Among the survivors, 7 patients (70%) had a good outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, 0-2) and 3 patients (30%) had a moderate outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, 3). Follow-up computed tomography angiography or magnetic resonance angiography revealed mild restenosis in 2 of the 10 patients. This preliminary experience demonstrates the technical feasibility and high rate of recanalization with emergent angioplasty and stenting without thrombolysis in patients with acute MCA occlusion.

Human amniotic membrane derived-mesenchymal stem cells induce C6 glioma apoptosis in vivo through the Bcl-2/caspase pathways.

High-grade gliomas are difficult to treat. We examined the therapeutic effect of intratumoral administration of human amniotic membrane derived-mesenchymal stem cells (hAMCs) on the growth of gliomas. Tumor volume of the control group was 1632±316 mm3 on day 30, and the group treated with a single intratumoral dose of hAMCs had a tumor volume of 1128±269 mm3 (P<0.05). Thus, administration of hAMCs significantly reduced tumor size. In rat glioma tissues treated with single and multiple dosages of hAMCs, there was a reduction in tumor volume of approximately 30.9 and 49.5%, respectively. We further evaluated the glioma tissue using Western blotting analysis and observed that the expression of Bax, caspase-8 and caspase-3 were greatly increased and the expression of Bcl-2 was greatly decreased in tumors treated with hAMCs. Sections of nude mice treated with hAMCs clearly showed the presence of an increase in apoptotic cells. The data collected herein confirms for the first time that hAMCs can inhibit C6 glioma growth and induce apoptosis of C6 gliomas in vivo. This demonstrates that hAMCs are a potential new therapeutic agent for the treatment of gliomas.

Long non-coding RNA MEG3 regulates autophagy after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Severe cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury has been shown to induce high-level autophagy and neuronal death. Therefore, it is extremely important to search for a target that inhibits autophagy activation. Long non-coding RNA MEG3 participates in autophagy. However, it remains unclear whether it can be targeted to regulate cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Our results revealed that in oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation-treated HT22 cells, MEG3 expression was obviously upregulated, and autophagy was increased, while knockdown of MEG3 expression greatly reduced autophagy. Furthermore, MEG3 bound miR-181c-5p and inhibited its expression, while miR-181c-5p bound to autophagy-related gene ATG7 and inhibited its expression. Further experiments revealed that mir-181c-5p overexpression reversed the effect of MEG3 on autophagy and ATG7 expression in HT22 cells subjected to oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation. In vivo experiments revealed that MEG3 knockdown suppressed autophagy, infarct volume and behavioral deficits in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion mice. These findings suggest that MEG3 knockdown inhibited autophagy and alleviated cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through the miR-181c-5p/ATG7 signaling pathway. Therefore, MEG3 can be considered as an intervention target for the treatment of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China (approval No. XF20190538) on January 4, 2019.

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells inhibit C6 glioma via downregulation of cyclin D1.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Glioma is difficult to treat and despite advances, outcomes remain poor and new treatment modalities are required. We studied the inhibitive effects of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCB-MSCs) on glioma growth. MATERIAL AND METHODS: UCB-MSCs were identified in mice by flow cytometric analysis, and neurogenic differentiation by immunohistochemistry. C6 cells were injected subcutaneously into the posterior right flank of each mouse. Dil-labeled UCB-MSCs were administrated by intravenous (IV) or intratumoral (IT) injection. Tumor blood vessel density was detected by counting the number of CD34-positive cells with endothelial morphology. Cyclin D1 protein expression was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: A 26% reduction in overall tumor volume was observed after IV UCB-MSCs treatment, 36% in animals who received IT UCB-MSCs. UCB-MSC administration was associated with reduced neovascularization. We identified a 48% and 27% reduction in the number of cyclin D1-positive cells in mouse glioma tissues treated with UCB-MSCs IV and IT, respectively. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that UCB-MSCs potently inhibit glioma growth, reduce neovascularization, and decrease cyclin D1 protein expression in vivo. IV or IT UCB-MSC administration significantly inhibits glioma growth, and may represent a promising new therapy.

[Clinical features and microsurgical management of rare tumors in the sellar region].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics and microsurgical managements of rare tumors in the sellar region. METHODS: Six rare cases of tumors in the sellar region treated by microsurgery from Jan 2000 to Jan 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Subsequent treatments were according to the status of preoperative alpha fetal protein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) measurement as well as confirmed by histopathological examination in all six patients. RESULTS: Total resection of the tumor was achieved in 2 cases and subtotal resection in 4 cases. Postoperative histopathology confirmed that the lesions were tumors in 5 cases and fungal pseudotumor in 1 case. Moreover, variety of histological types were observed in the present series, including leiomyosarcoma, malignant yolk sac tumor, mixed germ cell tumor, embryonal carcinoma, pilocytic astrocytoma and fungal pseudotumor, respectively. The serum levels of AFP and HCG were elevated to some extent in the patients with malignant yolk sac tumor, mixed germ cell tumor or embryonal carcinoma. Follow-up was conducted in all patients for 1 month to 3 years. The patients with malignant yolk sac tumor and embryonal carcinoma as well as leiomyosarcoma died in 5, 6, 10 months after operation, respectively. Subarachnoid hemorrhage occurred in the case of fungal pseudotumor at 2 months after surgery. The other two patients were surviving well. CONCLUSIONS: Rare non-germinomatous malignant germ cell tumors are predominantly susceptible to the sellar region. Furthermore, High misdiagnosis rate and poor prognosis are characteristic in the present study. Dynamic AFP and HCG detection may play an important role in the diagnosis of those non-germinomatous malignant germ cell tumors located in the sellar region. The importance of awareness of the presence of such rare lesions in the sellar region is emphasized.

Computational systematic selectivity of the Fasalog inhibitors between ROCK-I and ROCK-II kinase isoforms in Alzheimer's disease.

Human Rho-associated coiled-coil forming kinase (ROCK) is a class of essential neurokinases that consists of two structurally conserved isoforms ROCK-I and ROCK-II; they have been revealed to play distinct roles in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurological disorders. Selective targeting of the two kinase isoforms with small-molecule inhibitors is a great challenge due to the surprisingly high homology in kinase domain (92 %) and the full identity in kinase active site (100 %). Here, we describe a computational protocol to systematically profile the selectivity of Fasudil and its 25 analogs (termed as Fasalogs) between the two kinase isoforms. It is suggested that the substitution of Fasudil's 1,4-diazepane moiety with rigid ring such as Ripasudil and Dimehtylfasudil would render the resulting inhibitors of ROCK-II over ROCK-I (II-o-I) selectivity, while the substitution with long, flexible group such as H-89 and BDBM92607 tends to have I-o-II selectivity. Structural analysis reveals that the inhibitor affinity is not only determined by the identical active site, but also contributed from the non-identical first and second shells of the site as well as other non-conserved kinase regions, which can indirectly influence the active site and inhibitor binding through allosteric effect. A further kinase assay basically confirms the computational findings, which also exhibits a good consistence with theoretical selectivity over 10 tested samples (Rp = 0.89). In particular, the Fasalog compounds Dimehtylfasudil and H-89 are identified as II-o-I and I-o-II selective inhibitors. They can be considered as promising lead molecular entities to develop new specific ROCK isoform-selective Fasalog inhibitors.

Serum D-dimer as a potential new biomarker for prognosis in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening disease, and its mortality rate is 10% to 20%. However, there are currently only a few markers to predict the prognosis in patients with TTP. We aimed to identify several clinical indices and laboratory parameters for predicting the prognosis of TTP at admission.A single-centre observational cohort study that included patients with TTP from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in China was conducted from January 1, 2012 to November 30, 2018. The primary outcome was prognosis, including in-hospital mortality, major thromboembolic events, or failure to achieve remission at discharge. We used the random forest method to identify the best set of predictors.Eighty-seven patients with TTP were identified, of whom 12 died during the treatment. The total number of patients within-hospital mortality, major thromboembolic events, and failure to achieve remission at discharge was 58. The machine learning method showed that the D-dimer level was the strongest predictor of the primary outcome. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that the sensitivity and specificity of the D-dimer level alone for identifying high-risk patients were 78% and 81%, respectively, with an optimum diagnostic cut-off value of 770 ng/mL. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.80, and the 95% confidence interval (CI) was 0.70 to 0.90.This study found that the D-dimer level exhibited a good predictive ability for prognosis in patients with TTP. These findings may aid in the development of new and intensive treatment strategies to achieve remission among high-risk patients. However, external validation is necessary to confirm the generalizability of our approach across populations and treatment practices.

Long non-coding RNA LINC00473 promotes glioma cells proliferation and invasion by impairing miR-637/CDK6 axis.

LINC00473 has been reported to be aberrantly expressed in diverse kinds of human malignancy. However, the function and underlying mechanisms of LINC00473 in glioma still remain unclear. In the present study, LINC00473 was notably elevated in glioma tissues and cell lines. High LINC00473 expression was associated with advanced WHO grade (III-IV), low Karnofsky performance score (KPS), and poor prognosis. Loss function assays showed that LINC00473 knockdown decreased glioma cell proliferation, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) processes in vitro, and reduced tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistic analysis indicated that LINC00473 regulated CDK6 expression by competitively binding to miR-637. Moreover, rescue assays revealed that miR-637 inhibitors abolished the effects of LINC00473 suppression on glioma cells progression. Thus, we demonstrated that LINC00473 could act as a ceRNA of miR-637 to promote glioma progression through regulating CDK6 expression, which provided a potential therapeutic target for treatment of glioma patients.

Corrigendum: HAX-1 Protects Glioblastoma Cells From Apoptosis Through the Akt1 Pathway.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2017.00420.].

Clinical analysis of syringomyelia resulting from spinal hemangioblastoma in a single series of 38 consecutive patients.

OBJECTIVE: Syringomyelia was predominantly caused by Chiari malformation or intramedullary ependymoma. The goal of this study was to identify factors related to clinical outcomes and spinal hemangioblastoma (SH)-induced syringomyelia formation in a single series of patients. PATIENT AND METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with SH were treated with microsurgery from January 2013 to December 2018. Clinical features and related factors were retrospectively analyzed in SH patients with and without syringomyelia. RESULTS: Out of the total number of SH patients, 21 presented with remarkable syringomyelia, resulting in an incidence of 55.26% (21/38).Gross total resection was achieved in 36 cases (94.73%), and subtotal resection was obtained in 2 patients (5.27%). Neurological symptoms improved in 34 patients, remained stable in 2 patients and were aggravated in 2 cases during follow-up. In addition, there was a notable difference between the location of tumors and syringomyelia (P < 0.05). Syringomyelia occurred more frequently in the cervical segment than in any other spinal segment. Moreover, there was an association between symptom duration and clinical prognosis (P < 0.05). Ordinal regression analysis showed that the prognosis of middle duration groups (6-12 months) was better than early groups (0-6 months, p < 0.05, OR 20.21, 95%CI 2.34-336.97) and late groups (>12 months, p < 0.05, OR 11.54, 95%CI 1.30-102.21). Syringomyelia collapse or reduction occurred between two weeks and 15 months after surgery. An improvement of spinal function grade after surgery was more significant in syringomyelia reduction groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of syringomyelia due to SH is considerably high, and the initial clinical presentation of syringomyelia resulting from SH should be emphasized. Satisfactory outcomes were achieved by effective surgery in affected patients.

[Treatment of brain injured rats through transplanting amniotic-derived mesenchymal stem cells in different ways].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the behavioral improvement to find the best transplantation approach for treating brain injury through transplanting amniotic-derived mesenchymal stem cells into brain injured rats in different ways. METHODS: Eighty brain injured Wista rats were randomly divided into a control group with brain injury alone (n=20) and a treatment group(n=60) which were further evenly divided into Group A (transplanted through the vena caudalis), Group B (transplanted through the ventriculus cerebri lateralis), and Group C (transplanted through the injured brain area). Each group was transplanted with amniotic-derived esenchymal stem cells, and their therapeutic efficacy would be evaluated through the neurological severity score (NSS). RESULTS: Compared with other groups, the behaviors of Group C had markedly improved. There was statistically significant difference in the 2 groups (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the behaviors of Group A and Group B had marked improvement. There was statistically significant difference in the 3 groups (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between Group A and the control group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Transplanting the amniotic-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the injured brain area may be effective for brain injury in rats.

Pro-apoptotic effect of TRAIL-transfected endothelial progenitor cells on glioma cells.

Glioma is one of the most common aggressive neuroepithelial malignant tumors in the central nervous system. It has a high recurrence rate and poor prognosis, primarily due to the fact that novel therapeutic agents cannot penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been reported to move across the BBB and access the tumor site. However, whether EPCs expressing the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induce glioma cell apoptosis requires further investigation. In the present study, EPCs were transfected and stably expressed with TRAIL through lentiviral infection. The pro-apoptotic effect of these TRAIL-expressing EPCs on the SHG44 glioma cell line was investigated. The migration ability of TRAIL-expressing EPCs toward SHG44 cells through the Transwell culture system was investigated via a high-content screening assay. The apoptotic rate and the expression of cleaved caspase-8 and -3 in addition to the cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in SHG44 cells significantly increased in the TRAIL-overexpressing EPC treatment group compared with the controls. The increased apoptotic rate was reversed using a caspase inhibitor. The findings suggested that the TRAIL-expressing EPCs induced apoptosis in the SHG44 cells by activating the death receptor pathway, indicating that the TRAIL-expressing EPCs may be a useful strategy for glioma treatment.