N-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)retinamide induced differentiation with repression of telomerase and cell cycle to increase interferon-γ sensitivity for apoptosis in human glioblastoma cells

Glioblastoma is the most malignant and prevalent brain tumor in humans. It is composed of heterogenic abnormal astroglial cells that avoid differentiation, maintain proliferation, and hardly commit apoptosis. N-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR) induced astrocytic differentiation and increased sensitivity to interferon-γ (IFN-γ) for apoptosis in human glioblastoma A172, LN18, and SNB19 cells. Combination of 4-HPR and IFN-γ significantly inhibited human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), and survivin to up-regulate caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3 for increasing apoptosis in all glioblastoma cell lines. Hence, combination of 4-HPR and IFN-γ should be considered for controlling growth of different human glioblastoma cells.