title: Progesterone induces the growth and infiltration of human astrocytoma cells implanted in the cerebral cortex of the rat.
abstract: Progesterone (P4) promotes cell proliferation in several types of cancer, including brain tumors such as astrocytomas, the most common and aggressive primary intracerebral neoplasm in humans. In this work, we studied the effects of P4 and its intracellular receptor antagonist, RU486, on growth and infiltration of U373 cells derived from a human astrocytoma grade III, implanted in the motor cortex of adult male rats, using two treatment schemes. In the first one, fifteen days after cells implantation, rats were daily subcutaneously treated with vehicle (propylene glycol, 160  μ L), P4 (1 mg), RU486 (5 mg), or P4 + RU486 (1 mg and 5 mg, resp.) for 21 days. In the second one, treatments started 8 weeks after cells implantation and lasted for 14 days. In both schemes we found that P4 significantly increased the tumor area as compared with the rest of the treatments, whereas RU486 blocked P4 effects. All rats treated with P4 showed tumor infiltration, while 28.6% and 42.9% of the animals treated with RU486 and P4 + RU486, respectively, presented it. Our data suggest that P4 promotes growth and migration of human astrocytoma cells implanted in the motor cortex of the rat through the interaction with its intracellular receptor.
authors: Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510 Ciudad de México, DF, Mexico.
authors: Liliana
authors: L
authors: Germán-Castelán
authors: Laboratorio de Fisiología de la Formación Reticular, Unidad de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía MVS, 14269 Ciudad de México, DF, Mexico.
authors: Joaquín
authors: J
authors: Manjarrez-Marmolejo
authors: Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510 Ciudad de México, DF, Mexico.
authors: Aliesha
authors: A
authors: González-Arenas
authors: Facultad de Ciencias, Laboratorio de Biología de la Reproducción animal, Departamento de Biología Comparada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510 Ciudad de México, DF, Mexico.
authors: María Genoveva
authors: MG
authors: González-Morán
authors: Facultad de Química, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510 Ciudad de México, DF, Mexico.
authors: Ignacio
authors: I
authors: Camacho-Arroyo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D015735:Mifepristone / Q000494:pharmacology; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; D015735:Mifepristone; D011374:Progesterone