Combined effect of alkyl-lysophospholipid and vincristine on proliferation, migration and invasion in human glioma cell lines in vitro.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the combined effect of the alkyl-lysophospholipid Et-18-0-CH3 (ALP) and vincristine (VCR) on the proliferative, migratory and invasive properties of human glioma cells. Both drugs have previously been shown to act upon the locomotive apparatus of the cell. In the glioma cell lines D37MG and GaMG we found that ALP and VCR inhibited proliferation in monolayer growth as well as in multicellular spheroids in a dose-dependent manner. When combined, the two drugs had a significantly enhanced effect upon proliferation in the cell line GaMG but not in D37MG. Migration was inhibited by ALP and VCR in a dose-dependent manner in both cell lines. An enhanced effect by combining the drugs was also observed. The invasion of glioma cells into the brain cell aggregates was markedly inhibited at lower concentrations than needed for the inhibition of proliferation and migration when ALP and VCR were applied alone, without any further enhancement by combining the drugs. It is concluded that the combination of ALP and VCR have additive anti-proliferative and anti-migratory properties in human glioma cell lines.