α-Hispanolol Induces Apoptosis and Suppresses Migration and Invasion of Glioblastoma Cells Likely via Downregulation of MMP-2/9 Expression and p38MAPK Attenuation

alpha-Hispanolol (alpha-H) is a labdane diterpenoid that has been shown to induce apoptosis in several human cancer cells. However, the effect of alpha-H in human glioblastoma cells has not been described. In the present work, we have investigated the effects of alpha-H on apoptosis, migration, and invasion of human glioblastoma cells with the aim of identifying the molecular targets underlying its mechanism of action. The results revealed that alpha-H showed significant cytotoxicity against human glioma cancer cell lines U87 and U373 in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. This effect was higher in U87 cells and linked to apoptosis, as revealed the increased percentage of sub-G(1) population by cell cycle analysis and acquisition of typical features of apoptotic cell morphology. Apoptosis was also confirmed by significant presence of annexin V-positive cells and caspase activation. Pretreatment with caspase inhibitors diminishes the activities of caspase 8, 9, and 3 and maintains the percentage of viable glioblastoma cells, indicating that alpha-H induced cell apoptosis through both the extrinsic and the intrinsic pathways. Moreover, we also found that alpha-H downregulated the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL proteins and activated the pro-apoptotic Bid and Bax proteins. On the other hand, alpha-H exhibited inhibitory effects on the migration and invasion of U87 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, additional experiments showed that alpha-H treatment reduced the enzymatic activities and protein levels of matrix metalloproteinase MMP-2 and MMP-9 and increased the expression of TIMP-1 inhibitor, probably via p38MAPK regulation. Finally, xenograft assays confirmed the anti-glioma efficacy of alpha-H. Taken together, these findings suggest that alpha-H may exert anti-tumoral effects in vitro and in vivo through the inhibition of cell proliferation and invasion as well as by the induction of apoptosis in human glioblastoma cells. This research describes alpha-H as a new drug that may improve the therapeutic efficacy against glioblastoma tumors.