ArticleInternational journal of cancer2009
The antiretroviral nucleoside analogue Abacavir reduces cell growth and promotes differentiation of human medulloblastoma cells.
Article in International journal of cancer, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Abacavir enhances the efficacy of doxorubicin via inhibition of histone demethylase KDM5B in breast cancer.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Antiretroviral Drugs Impact Autophagy: Opportunities for Drug Repurposing.Frontiers in bioscience (Landmark edition) · 2024Review
- Antiretroviral Drug Repositioning for Glioblastoma.Cancers · 2024Article
- 13-Cis Retinoic Acid Induces Neuronal Differentiation in Daoy (Medulloblastoma) Cells Through Epigenetic Regulation of Topoisomerase IIβ.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Human endogenous retrovirus K contributes to a stem cell niche in glioblastoma.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2023Article
- Repurposed Drugs in Gastric Cancer.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Enhanced Survival of High-Risk Medulloblastoma-Bearing Mice after Multimodal Treatment with Radiotherapy, Decitabine, and Abacavir.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Endogenous Retroviral Elements in Human Development and Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumors.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Review
- Drug Repurposing in Medulloblastoma: Challenges and Recommendations.Current treatment options in oncology · 2020Review
- A non-natural nucleotide uses a specific pocket to selectively inhibit telomerase activity.PLoS biology · 2019Article
- Differential CRABP-II and FABP5 expression patterns and implications for medulloblastoma retinoic acid sensitivity.RSC advances · 2018Article
- Different Cell Cycle Modulation in SKOV-3 Ovarian Cancer Cell Line by Anti-HIV Drugs.Oncology research · 2017Article
- HIV-associated cellular senescence: A contributor to accelerated aging.Ageing research reviews · 2017Review
- Enhanced expression of LINE-1-encoded ORF2 protein in early stages of colon and prostate transformation.Oncotarget · 2016Article
- Regulatory roles of LINE-1-encoded reverse transcriptase in cancer onset and progression.Oncotarget · 2014Review
- miR-1207-5p and miR-1266 suppress gastric cancer growth and invasion by targeting telomerase reverse transcriptase.Cell death & disease · 2014Article
- G-quadruplexes as potential therapeutic targets for embryonal tumors.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2013Review
- Inhibitory effects of epigenetic modulators and differentiation inducers on human medulloblastoma cell lines.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2013Article
- Growth-inhibitory effect of neurotrophin-3-secreting adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells on the D283-MED human medulloblastoma cell line.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2012Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Abacavir is one of the most efficacious nucleoside analogues, with a well-characterized inhibitory activity on reverse transcriptase enzymes of retroviral origin, and has been clinically approved for the treatment of AIDS. Recently, Abacavir has been shown to inhibit also the human telomerase activity. Telomerase activity seems to be required in essentially all tumours for the immortalization of a subset of cells, including cancer stem cells. In fact, many cancer cells are dependent on telomerase for their continued replication and therefore telomerase is an attractive target for cancer therapy. Telomerase expression is upregulated in primary primitive neuroectodermal tumours and in the majority of medulloblastomas suggesting that its activation is associated with the development of these diseases. Therefore, we decided to test Abacavir activity on human medulloblastoma cell lines with high telomerase activity. We report that exposure to Abacavir induces a dose-dependent decrease in the proliferation rate of medulloblastoma cells. This is associated with a cell accumulation in the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle in the Daoy cell line, and with increased cell death in the D283-MED cell line, and is likely to be dependent on the inhibition of telomerase activity. Interestingly, both cell lines showed features of senescence after Abacavir treatment. Moreover, after Abacavir exposure we detected, by immunofluorescence staining, increased protein expression of the glial marker glial fibrillary acidic protein and the neuronal marker synaptophysin in both medulloblastoma cell lines. In conclusion, our results suggest that Abacavir reduces proliferation and induces differentiation of human medulloblastoma cells through the downregulation of telomerase activity. Thus, using Abacavir, alone or in combination with current therapies, might be an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of medulloblastoma.
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