A potential strategy for high-grade gliomas: combination treatment with lithium chloride and BmK CT.

Therapies for high-grade gliomas (HHG) that have strong tendency of infiltration and resistance to chemotherapies are currently unavailable. Here, we report that lower-dose combination therapy of Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK) CT, a type of scorpion toxin peptide, and LiCl, clinically used as mood stabilizer, could synergistically inhibit the migration, invasion and proliferation of C6 glioma cells. The decreased invasiveness of C6 glioma cells was accompanied by inhibited activation, catalytic activity and/or expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2. Moreover, TOPfalsh luciferase reporter and immunofluorescence staining showed altered localization pattern of β-catenin at the leading edge of 2D scratch. Our results suggested that the combination treatment of lithium and BmK CT may constitute a novel and potential strategy for HHG therapy.