The algorithm measured significant increase in F-actin at cell edges with concomitant decrease in internal punctate actin in astrocytoma cells lacking functional neurofibromin and p53 when treated with three structurally-distinct anticancer small molecules: OSW1, Schweinfurthin A (SA) and a synthetic marine compound 23'-dehydroxycephalostatin 1.
This study was aimed to test a panel of six housekeeping genes (GAPDH, HPRT1, POLR2A, RPLP0, ACTB, and H3F) so as to identify and validate the most suitable reference genes for expression studies in astrocytomas.
Here, we examined (a) the degree of regulation of GAPDH expression in human glioblastoma cells under hypoxic conditions in vitro in comparison to other housekeeping genes like beta-actin, serving as experimental loading controls, (b) the potential use of GAPDH as a target for tumor therapeutic approaches and (c) differences in GAPDH expression between low-grade astrocytomas and glioblastomas, for which modest and severe hypoxia, respectively, have been previously demonstrated.
In this study, we investigated the effects of p16 expression and RA treatment on the expression and distribution of actin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and vimentin within the U343 MG-A astrocytoma cytoskeleton.
While B2M and ACTB exhibited comparable levels of expression within different grades of astrocytomas and meningiomas, GAPD showed an inverse pattern in these tumors.
The GLUT1/actin mRNA ratio increased in parallel to the astrocytoma grade, compared to a control human brain cortex, although no change in this ratio was seen in 5 meningiomas.