Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive and invasive brain tumor with a poor prognosis despite extensive treatment. The switch to aerobic glycolysis, known as the Warburg effect, in cancer cells leads to an increased production of methylglyoxal (MGO), a potent glycation agent with pro-tumorigenic characteristics. MGO non-enzymatically reacts with proteins, DNA, and lipids, leading to alterations in the signaling pathways, genomic instability, and cellular dysfunction. In this study, we investigated the impact of MGO on the LN229 and U251 (WHO grade IV, GBM) cell lines and the U343 (WHO grade III) glioma cell line, along with primary human astrocytes (hA). The results showed that increasing concentrations of MGO led to glycation, the accumulation of advanced glycation end-products, and decreasing cell viability in all cell lines. The invasiveness of the GBM cell lines increased under the influence of physiological MGO concentrations (0.3 mmol/L), resulting in a more aggressive phenotype, whereas glycation decreased the invasion potential of hA. In addition, glycation had differential effects on the ECM components that are involved in the invasion progress, upregulating TGFβ, brevican, and tenascin C in the GBM cell lines LN229 and U251. These findings highlight the importance of further studies on the prevention of glycation through MGO scavengers or glyoxalase 1 activators as a potential therapeutic strategy against glioma and GBM.
Keywords: advanced glycation end-products; astrocytes; glioblastoma; glioma; glycation; invasion; methylglyoxal.