Autophagy, the Trojan horse to combat glioblastomas

Neurosurg Focus. 2006 Apr 15;20(4):E7. doi: 10.3171/foc.2006.20.4.4.

Abstract

Malignant gliomas, among which glioblastomas constitute the largest group, are characterized by a dramatically diffuse infiltration into the brain parenchyma with, as a consequence, the fact that no patient with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has been cured to date. Migrating GBM cells are resistant to apoptosis (Type I programmed cell death), and thus to radiotherapy and conventional chemotherapy, because of the constitutive activation of several intracellular signaling pathways, of which the most important identified to date are the pathways controlled by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Akt, and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Migrating GBM cells seem to be less prone to resist autophagy (Type II programmed cell death), and disruption of the pathway controlled by mTOR induces marked autophagic processes in GBM cells. Temozolomide is the most efficacious cytotoxic drug employed today to combat glioblastoma, and this drug exerts its cytotoxic activity through proautophagic processes. Thus, autophagy represents a kind of Trojan horse that can be used to bypass, at least partly, the dramatic resistance of glioblastoma to radiotherapy and proapoptotic-related chemotherapy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / pharmacology
  • Autophagy / drug effects*
  • Autophagy / physiology*
  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Brain Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Brain Neoplasms / physiopathology
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Movement / physiology
  • Dacarbazine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Dacarbazine / pharmacology
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / physiology
  • Glioblastoma / drug therapy*
  • Glioblastoma / metabolism
  • Glioblastoma / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Protein Kinases / drug effects
  • Protein Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / physiology
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Temozolomide

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
  • Dacarbazine
  • Protein Kinases
  • MTOR protein, human
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Temozolomide