IFNgamma inhibition of cell growth in glioblastomas correlates with increased levels of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1.

Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive form of brain cancer characterized by uncontrolled cell growth resulting from a loss of cell cycle regulation. In this study we determined the antiproliferative effects of interferon gamma (IFNgamma) on the glioblastoma cell lines T98G, SNB-19 and U-373, focusing on the ability of IFNgamma to increase levels of p21WAF1/CIP1, an important negative regulator of cell cycle events. IFNgamma was found to inhibit the growth of all cell lines, with inhibition ranging from 82.2% to 45.4%. Flow cytometry analysis showed that IFNgamma treatment caused a cell cycle delay in the G1 or S phases. The strength of this delay varied, correlating with the degree by which IFNgamma inhibited proliferation of each cell line. IFNgamma treatment increased the production of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor (CKI) p21WAF1/ CIP1 in all cell lines, the level and kinetics of production of which correlated with the degree and stage of inhibition of cellular proliferation. Further, immunoprecipitation of p21WAF1/CIP1 in complexes of p21WAF1/CIP1/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (cdk2)/cyclin showed that the amount of p21WAF1/CIP1 in the complexes and the inhibition of cdk2-cyclin kinase activity correlated with the level of p21WAF1/CIP1 produced in the cells by IFNgamma. These results show that IFNgamma has significant antiproliferative effects on the glioblastoma cell lines and suggest that p21WAF1/CIP1 plays a role in mediating these effects.