Glycyrrhetinic Acid Induces Anoikis-Like Death and Cytoskeletal Disruption in the Central Nervous System Tumorigenic Cells

• Published in: Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 321 - 324
• Main Authors: Yamaguchi, Hideaki, Kidachi, Yumi, Kamiie, Katsuyoshi, Noshita, Toshiro, Umetsu, Hironori, Ryoyama, Kazuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japan The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan 2010; Pharmaceutical Society of Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Animals; Anoikis - drug effects; Anoikis - physiology; Cell Death - drug effects; Cell Death - physiology; Central Nervous System Neoplasms - drug therapy; Central Nervous System Neoplasms - pathology; Cytoskeleton - drug effects; Cytoskeleton - pathology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; glycyrrhetinic acid; Glycyrrhetinic Acid - pharmacology; Glycyrrhetinic Acid - therapeutic use; Glycyrrhiza glabra; human c-Ha-ras mouse c-myc cotransfected highly metastatic serum-free mouse embryo-1; Humans; licorice; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; tumor; Tumor Cells, Cultured
• ISSN: 0918-6158; 1347-5215
• DOI: 10.1248/bpb.33.321

We analyzed the effects of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), a licorice compound, on the induction of anoikis-like death and cytoskeletal disruption in the central nervous system (CNS) tumorigenic cells. GA was cytotoxic in time- and dose-dependent manners, and the tumorigenic cells shed floating cells upon the GA treatment and even some of the adherent cells were easily detached from the fibronectin-coated culture dish by gentle shaking and aspiration. Reculture of the detached cells revealed that the longer the duration of GA exposure, the less the number of the proliferatable cells. These results indicate that GA perturbs cell adhesion and induces anoikis-like cell death. Further, GA also induced morphologic changes and disturbed cytoskeletal proteins.