Antitumor Effects of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid on Human Malignant Glioblastoma Cells

• Main Authors: Mohammad Jalili-Nik, Farzaneh Abbasinezhad-moud, Sajad Sahab-Negah, Abolfazl Maghrouni, Mohammad Etezad Razavi, Maryam Khaleghi Ghadiri, Walter Stummer, Ali Gorji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: brain tumor; protoporphyrin; cell death; apoptosis; tumor cell line
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/11/5596

5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a naturally occurring non-proteinogenic amino acid, which contributes to the diagnosis and therapeutic approaches of various cancers, including glioblastoma (GBM). In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether 5-ALA exerted cytotoxic effects on GBM cells. We assessed cell viability, apoptosis rate, mRNA expressions of various apoptosis-related genes, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and migration ability of the human U-87 malignant GBM cell line (U87MG) treated with 5-ALA at different doses. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 5-ALA on U87MG cells was 500 μg/mL after 7 days; 5-ALA was not toxic for human optic cells and NIH-3T3 cells at this concentration. The application of 5-ALA led to a significant increase in apoptotic cells, enhancement of Bax and p53 expressions, reduction in Bcl-2 expression, and an increase in ROS generation. Furthermore, the application of 5-ALA increased the accumulation of U87MG cells in the SUB-G1 population, decreased the expression of cyclin D1, and reduced the migration ability of U87MG cells. Our data indicate the potential cytotoxic effects of 5-ALA on U87MG cells. Further studies are required to determine the spectrum of the antitumor activity of 5-ALA on GBM.