Cannabis sativa ethanolic extract demonstrated significant anti-tumor effects associated with elevated expression of AXIN1 protein in glioblastoma U87-MG cell line

Abstract

Glioblastoma as the most common and lethal primary brain malignancy in adults is extremely resistant to conventional treatments. Recent evidence indicated that Cannabis sativa inhibits cell growth and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate how Cannabis sativa ethanolic extract can affect U87-MG glioblastoma cell line through expression analysis of AXIN1 protein as a key regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Human U87-MG cells were treated with different concentrations of C. sativa ethanolic extract (40, 80, 120, 160, 200, 240, and 280 μg/ml) for 24 h. The cell viability and the protein levels of AXIN1 were evaluated using MTT, western blotting, and Immunofluorescence (ICC) assays, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that administration of Cannabis sativa extract decreased the viability of U87-MG cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, a significant increase in the protein levels of AXIN1 was observed in U87-MG cells treated with 4.4, and 8.8 μl/ml for 24 h in comparison to un-exposed and the cells incubated with the dose of 2.2 μl/ml (P ≤ 0.05 each). Our results indicated that decreased cell viability of glioblastoma cell line in a dose-dependent manner in response to Cannabis sativa extract is associated with increased expression of AXIN1 protein. This anti-cancer effect of Cannabis sativa could suggest a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of glioblastoma.