Aurora kinase B/C inhibition impairs malignant glioma growth in vivo.

Inhibition of Aurora kinase B has been evaluated as a therapy to block solid tumor growth in breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and colorectal cancer models. Aurora kinase inhibitors are in early clinical trials for the treatment of leukemia. We hypothesized that Aurora B inhibition would reduce malignant glioma cell viability and result in impaired tumor growth in vivo. Aurora B expression is greater in cultured malignant glioma U251 cells compared to proliferating normal human astrocytes, and expression is maintained in U251 flank xenografts. Aurora B inhibition with AZD1152-HQPA blocked cell division in four different p53-mutant glioma cell lines (U251, T98G, U373, and U118). AZD1152-HQPA also inhibited Aurora C activation loop threonine autophosphorylation at the effective antiproliferative concentrations in vitro. Reduction in cell viability of U251 (p53(R273H)) cells was secondary to cytokinesis blockade and apoptosis induction following endoreplication. AZD1152-HQPA inhibited the growth of U251 tumor xenografts and resulted in an increase in tumor cell apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Subcutaneous administration of AZD1152-HQPA (25 mg/kg/day × 4 days; 2 cycles spaced 7 days apart) resulted in a prolongation in median survival after intracranial inoculation of U251 cells in mice (P = 0.025). This is the first demonstration that an Aurora kinase inhibitor can inhibit malignant glioma growth in vivo at drug doses that are clinically relevant.

Epigenetic regulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein by DNA methylation in human malignant gliomas.

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is an intermediate filament expressed in glial cells that stabilizes and maintains the cytoskeleton of normal astrocytes. In glial tumors, GFAP expression is frequently lost with increasing grade of malignancy, suggesting that GFAP is important for maintaining glial cell morphology or regulating astrocytoma cell growth. Most permanent human glioma cell lines are GFAP negative by immunocytochemistry. Given that the GFAP gene is not mutated in human glioma specimens or glioma cell lines, we considered epigenetic mechanisms, such as promoter methylation, as a cause of silencing of GFAP in these tumors. In this study, we treated known GFAP-negative glioma cell lines with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine to examine GFAP promoter hypermethylation. Additionally, we performed bisulfite sequencing on primary glioma samples and glioma cell lines and showed an inverse relationship between GFAP promoter methylation status and GFAP expression. Using a gene reporter assay with the GFAP promoter cloned upstream of a luciferase gene, we showed that methylation of the GFAP promoter downregulates the expression of the luciferase gene. Our results suggest that epigenetic silencing of the GFAP gene through DNA methylation of its promoter region may be one mechanism by which GFAP is downregulated in human gliomas and glioma cell lines.