Journal of Pharmacological Sciences (Jan 2008)

Parthenolide Induces Apoptosis in Glioblastomas Without Affecting NF-κ B

  • Krystal N. Anderson,
  • Bruce E. Bejcek

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1254/jphs.sc0060164
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 106, no. 2
pp. 318 – 320

Abstract

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Parthenolide is a sesquiterpene lactone that has been isolated from Tanacetum parthenium (feverfew). Parthenolide has several biological activities including the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of NF-κ B. Because of its activities against several tumor types and because it is relatively well tolerated, in clinical trial, parthenolide is an attractive compound for the treatment of brain tumors. However, there have been no reports concerning its ability to induce apoptosis in any brain tumor cell lines. In this report we demonstrate that treatment of glioblastoma cells with parthenolide resulted in rapid apoptosis through caspase 3/7 without a suppression of NF-κ B activity. Keywords:: parthenolide, NF-κ B, glioblastoma