Neovascularization is a histological feature of glioma, especially of glioblastoma (GBM), being associated with tumor invasiveness and poor prognosis. However, current anti-angiogenic therapies targeting vascular endothelial cells (ECs), has exhibited poor efficacy in some GBM cases. This may be at least partially attributed to the potential of glioblastoma cells to construct blood supply chain via vasculogenic mimicry or endothelial differentiation. This study aims to explore differences in vasculogenic activity and sensitivity to angiogenic stimulants between normal human ECs and glioma cells of different grades. We found that grade IV U87 GBM cells showed highly inducible vasculogenic activity either in the orthotopic xenograft model or under in vitro angiogenic stimulants as compared with grade II CHG5 glioma cells. The hypoxia mimetic more strongly induced in vitro vasculogenic capacity and endothelial marker expression of U87 GBM cells than the stimulation with multiple proangiogenic growth factors (vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor and epidermal growth factor). In contrast, proangiogenic effect of hypoxia on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was weaker than on U87 GBM cells. In addition, it was also observed that the in vitro vasculogenic process of U87 cells started later but lasted longer than that of HUVECs. These results demonstrate that when compared with normal ECs, high-grade glioma cells basically possess weaker vasculogenic activity, but exhibit higher sensitivity and longer-lasting response to angiogenic stimulants, especially to hypoxia. This may be helpful to develop novel anti-angiogenic strategies targeting both vascular ECs and vasculogenic glioma cells.
Keywords: Endothelial cell; Glioma cell; Hypoxia; Vasculogenic activity.
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