Apoptosis and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assays showed that AM protects glioblastoma cells against hypoxia-induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner.
These findings indicate that adrenomedullin is highly induced during hypoxia in T98G glioblastoma cells and suggest that increased expression of adrenomedullin during hypoxia may be important in the defense against hypoxia or ischemia in the brain.
Northern blot analysis showed that ADM mRNA was expressed in all brain tumors examined (three anaplastic astrocytomas and two glioblastomas multiforme) and in the glioblastoma cell lines.