Tubastatin A, an inhibitor of HDAC6, enhances temozolomide-induced apoptosis and reverses the malignant phenotype of glioblastoma cells

Glioblastoma or grade IV astrocytoma is the most common and lethal form of glioma. Current glioblastoma treatment strategies use surgery followed by chemotherapy with temozolomide. Despite this, numerous glioblastoma cases develop resistance to temozolomide treatments, resulting in a poor prognosis for the patients. Novel approaches are being investigated, including the inhibition of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), an enzyme that deacetylates -tubulin, and whose overexpression in glioblastoma is associated with the loss of primary cilia. The aim of the present study was to treat glioblastoma cells with a selective HDAC6 inhibitor, tubastatin A, to determine if the malignant phenotype may be reverted. The results demonstrated a notable increase in acetylated -tubulin levels in treated cells, which associated with downregulation of the sonic hedgehog pathway, and may hypothetically promote ciliogenesis in those cells. Treatment with tubastatin A also reduced glioblastoma clonogenicity and migration capacities, and accelerated temozolomide-induced apoptosis. Finally, HDAC6 inhibition decreased the expression of mesenchymal markers, contributing to reverse epithelial-mesenchymal transition in glioblastoma cells.