Malignant gliomas, most of which show an elevated level of vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) expression, are well known for their hyper-vascularity. One of the possible inducers of VEGF in tumor cells is nitric oxide (NO), which is synthesized by NO synthase and stimulates soluble guanylate cyclase (GC) in tumor cells. Here, we report that 2 of 9 human glioma cell lines, CCF-STTG1 and U-87MG, overproduced cyclic GMP (cGMP) and showed increased expression of both or either subunits of soluble GC1, GUCY1A3 and GUCY1B3. Transfection of antisense GUCY1A3 or GUCY1B3 into these two glioma cell lines markedly reduced the content of cGMP and expression of VEGF. The angiogenic activity in vitro was subsequently inhibited, which was determined by induction of HUVEC cell growth. Furthermore, subcutaneous tumor formation by U-87MG cells in nude mice was dramatically suppressed to less than 0.05% in volume by transfection of either antisense GUCY1A3 or antisense GUCY1B3, which was accompanied by the significant decrease in vascular index to about 10%. These findings demonstrate that cGMP is an upstream mediator of VEGF expression in glioma cells and that soluble guanylate cyclases could be the target molecules for controlling neo-vascularization in a subset of human malignant gliomas.

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