Comparative analysis of autophagy in drug responses and aggressive behavior of adult versus pediatric glioma cell lines

Abstract

Central nervous system tumors are the most common solid cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. Glioma is the most challenging pediatric CNS tumor with therapy resistance and poor prognosis in pediatric patients. Although histopathological analyses revealed similarities with adult brain glioma, emerging evidence suggests that the deregulated molecular pathways in pediatric glioma (p-GM) are different from that of adults. Autophagy, a cellular clearance system and a drug resistance mechanism, has been implicated in glioma progression, invasion, and relapse, yet its role in pediatric patients is not well documented. In this study, we compared the autophagic capacity of adult versus p-GM cell lines and evaluated the effect of autophagy manipulation on drug responses. In addition, migration, extracellular matrix invasion ability, and the metabolism of pediatric and adult gliomas were compared and the contribution of autophagy to the aggressive phenotype was evaluated.