Effects of antioxidants on the anti-proliferation induced by protein synthesis inhibitors in human brain tumor cells

The effects of protein synthesis inhibitors (cycloheximide, anisomycin, puromycin and emetine) on the growth of human brain tumor cells were investigated using U-373 MG human astrocytoma and SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma cell lines. These agents inhibited the growth of the tumor cells in a dose-dependent manner. However, these agents did not affect cell viability evaluated by the trypan blue exclusion method, indicating that growth inhibition was due to the inhibition of cell proliferation rather than the induction of cytotoxicity. Anti-proliferation induced by these agents was significantly blocked by the treatments with either free radical scavengers or antioxidants. These results suggest that enhanced oxidative stress may be involved in the anti-proliferation induced by the protein synthesis inhibitors in human brain tumor cells.