Inhibiting Heat Shock Proteins Can Potentiate the Cytotoxic Effect of Cannabidiol in Human Glioma Cells.

“Cannabinoids possess a number of characteristics that make them putative anticancer drugs, and their value as such is currently being explored in a number of clinical studies.

To further understand the roles that cannabinoids may have, we performed gene expression profiling in glioma cell lines cultured with cannabidiol (CBD) and/or Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and pursued targets identified by this screening.

Results showed that a large number of genes belonging to the heat shock protein (HSP) super-family were up-regulated following treatment, specifically with CBD. Increases were observed both at the gene and protein levels and arose as a consequence of increased generation of ROS by CBD, and correlated with an increase in a number of HSP client proteins. Furthermore, increases impeded the cytotoxic effect of CBD; an effect that was improved by co-culture with pharmacalogical inhibitors of HSPs. Similarly, culturing glioma cells with CBD and HSP inhibitors increased radiosensitivity when compared to CBD-alone.

Taken together, these data indicate that the cytotoxic effects of CBD can be diminished by HSPs that indirectly rise as a result of CBD use, and that the inclusion of HSP inhibitors in CBD treatment regimens can enhance the overall effect.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26504004

On the effects of CP 55-940 and other cannabinoid receptor agonists in C6 and U373 cell lines.

“Cannabinoid receptor (CBs) agonists affect the growth of tumor cells via activation of deadly cascades. The spectrum of action of these agents and the precise role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) on oncogenic processes remain elusive.

Herein we compared the effects of synthetic (CP 55-940 and WIN 55,212-2) and endogenous (anandamide or AEA) CBs agonists (10-20 μM) on morphological changes, cell viability, and induction of apoptosis in primary astrocytes and in two glioblastoma cell lines (C6 and U373 cells) in order to characterize their possible differential actions on brain tumor cells.

None of the CBs agonist tested induced changes in cell viability or morphology in primary astrocytes.

In contrast, CP 55-940 significantly decreased cell viability in C6 and U373 cells at 5 days of treatment, whereas AEA and WIN 55,212-2 moderately decreased cell viability in both cell lines. Treatment of U373 and C6 for 3 and 5 days with AEA or WIN 55,212-2 produced discrete morphological changes in cell bodies, whereas the exposure to CP 55-940 induced soma degradation. CP 55-940 also induced apoptosis in both C6 and U373 cell lines.

Our results support a more effective action of CP 55-940 to produce cell death of both cell lines through apoptotic mechanisms. Comparative aspects between cannabinoids with different profiles are necessary for the design of potential treatments against glial tumors.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26255146

The use of cannabinoids as anticancer agents.

Cover image

“It is well-established that cannabinoids exert palliative effects on some cancer-associated symptoms. In addition evidences obtained during the last fifteen years support that these compounds can reduce tumour growth in animal models of cancer.

Cannabinoids have been shown to activate an ER-stress related pathway that leads to the stimulation of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death.

In addition, cannabinoids inhibit tumour angiogenesis and decrease cancer cell migration.

The mechanisms of resistance to cannabinoid anticancer action as well as the possible strategies to develop cannabinoid-based combinational therapies to fight cancer have also started to be explored.

In this review we will summarize these observations (that have already helped to set the bases for the development of the first clinical studies to investigate the potential clinical benefit of using cannabinoids in anticancer therapies) and will discuss the possible future avenues of research in this area.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26071989

“… cannabinoids have been shown to alleviate nausea and vomit induced by chemotherapy and several cannabinoid-based medicines [Marinol (THC) and Cesamet (nabilone, a synthetic analogue of THC)] are approved for this purpose. Cannabinoids also inhibit pain, and Sativex (a standardized cannabis extract) has been approved in Canada for the treatment of cancer-associated pain. Other potential palliative effects of cannabinoids in oncology include appetite stimulation and attenuation of wasting. In addition to these palliative actions of cannabinoids in cancer patients, THC and other cannabinoids exhibit antitumour effects in animal models of cancer… a large body of scientific evidences strongly support THC and other cannabinoid agonists exert anticancer actions in preclinical models of cancer… In conclusion there exist solid scientific evidences supporting that cannabinoids exhibit a remarkable anticancer activity in preclinical models of cancer. Since these agents also show an acceptable safety profile, clinical studies aimed at testing them as single agents or in combinational therapies are urgently needed.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584615001190

Marijuana kills brain cancer, new study confirms

“The active molecules in cannabis kill brain cancer — another study has revealed.”

“Scientists using an extract of whole-plant marijuana rich in pot’s main psychoactive ingredient THC as well as cannabidiol (CBD) showed “dramatic reductions in tumor volumes” of a type of brain cancer.”  http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2014/11/18/marijuana-kills-brain-cancer-new-study-confirms/

“Marijuana kills brain cancer, new study confirms. The active molecules in cannabis kill brain cancer — another study has revealed.” http://blog.seattlepi.com/marijuana/2014/11/18/marijuana-kills-brain-cancer-new-study-confirms/#13130101=0

“Marijuana Kills Brain Cancer Cells. Researchers have found that the THC in marijuana causes brain cancer cells to die in both mice and humans.”  http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/health/Marijuana_Kills_Brain_Cancer_Cells_All__National_.html

“Marijuana Kills Brain Cancer, New Study Confirms” http://cancerguide.byethost8.com/marijuana-kills-brain-cancer-new-study-confirms-sfgate-blog/

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/brain-cancer/

Cannabinoid receptor CB1 regulates STAT3 activity and its expression dictates the responsiveness to SR141716 treatment in human glioma patients’ cells.

“Herein we show that a majority of human brain tumor samples and cell lines over-expressed cannabinoid receptor CB1 as compared to normal human astrocytes (NHA), while uniformly expressed low levels of CB2. This finding prompted us to investigate the therapeutic exploitation of CB1 inactivation by SR141716 treatment, with regard to its direct and indirect cell-mediated effects against gliomas…

These results indicate that CB1 and STAT3 participate in a new oncogenic network in the complex biology of glioma and their expression levels in patients dictate the efficacy of the CB1 antagonist SR141716 in multimodal glioma destruction.

CB1 is implicated in the regulation of cellular processes linked to survival, proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis in several physio-pathological conditions. We shed light on previously unrecognized molecular mechanism of CB1-mediated modulation of human glioma progression and provide the first and original demonstration of CB1-STAT3 axis as a new target and predictor biomarkers of the benefit from specific therapies.

Indeed CB1 antagonism capable of tumoral cell division’ control while making the glioma immunovisible and engaging the immune system to fight it may represent a hopeful alternative to other established chemotherapeutics.

Because different aspects of glioma biology have been separately targeted with very limited success, we speculate that CB1 inhibitors which enclose in the same molecule cytotoxic potential and high activity to boost competent immune surveillance mechanisms, at a degree that seems to be correlated to the levels of CB1 immunoreactivity, might have profound implications for exploring new therapeutic anti-glioma actions.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26008966

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/gllomas/

Id-1 is a key transcriptional regulator of glioblastoma aggressiveness and a novel therapeutic target.

Figure 2

“Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of primary adult brain tumors…

It is, therefore, essential to discover master regulators that control GBM invasiveness and target them therapeutically.

We demonstrate here that the transcriptional regulator Id-1 plays a critical role in modulating the invasiveness of GBM cell lines and primary GBM cells.

Furthermore, we show that a non-toxic compound, cannabidiol, significantly down-regulates Id-1 gene expression and associated glioma cell invasiveness…

Our results suggest that Id-1 regulates multiple tumor-promoting pathways in GBM, and that drugs targeting Id-1 represent a novel and promising strategy for improving the therapy and outcome of GBM patients.

We previously showed a strong correlation between Id-1 expression and the invasive and metastatic behavior of breast cancer cells.”

“Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells… CBD represents the first nontoxic exogenous agent that can significantly decrease Id-1 expression in metastatic breast cancer cells…  Moreover, reducing Id-1 expression with cannabinoids could also provide a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of additional aggressive cancers because Id-1 expression was found to be up-regulated during the progression of almost all types…”  http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/6/11/2921.long

“In this report, we show that Id-1 is a key regulator of brain tumor cell invasiveness and neurosphere growth, and that Id-1 expression is specifically up-regulated in tissues from patients with high-grade gliomas. Importantly, we demonstrate that targeting Id-1 expression using either genetic approaches or the non-toxic cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), leads to a significant reduction in the invasion of both GBM cell lines and patient-derived primary GBM cultures. CBD also significantly inhibits GBM dispersal ex vivo, and reduces tumor growth and Id-1 expression in vivo.

Consistent with the breast cancer study, we found that the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD significantly down-regulated Id-1 expression in serum-derived and primary GBM cells. As expected, we observed robust inhibition of glioma cell invasiveness.

In conclusion, our results establish Id-1 as a key regulator of both invasion and stemness in GBM cells and demonstrate that the non-toxic cannabinoid compound CBD down-regulates Id-1 expression and tumor aggressiveness in culture and in vivo.

The data also shed light on some of the key pathways that control GBM cell dispersal and progression. A greater understanding of these pathways may lead to more effective therapies for cancer patients including the additional refinement of cannabinoid analogs targeting Id-1.

We expect our efforts to ultimately translate to the development of future clinical trials with nontoxic compounds that target the expression of Id-1, a master regulator of GBM aggressiveness.

With its lack of systemic toxicity and psychoactivity, CBD is an ideal candidate agent in this regard and may prove useful in combination with front-line agents for the treatment of patients with aggressive and high-grade GBM tumors.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3594064/

“McAllister Lab… Cannabidiol inhibits tumor (glioblastoma) progression in mouse models of brain cancer. Mice bearing human brain tumors derived from glioblastoma were treated with the naturally occurring cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD).”  http://www.cpmcri-currents.org/our-people/discovery-investigators/mcallister-lab

“New Study Finds Cannabis Compound Could Have Even Greater Reach in Inhibiting Aggressive Cancer than Previously Thought. Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI, a Sutter Health affiliate) have found that a compound in cannabis previously shown to decrease metastatic breast cancer now shows promise in stopping aggressive brain cancer as well. The findings are particularly important given the safety of the cannabis compound and the fact that patients with advanced brain cancer have few options for treatment.”  http://www.cpmc.org/about/press/news2012/cannabis-brain.html

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/brain-cancer/

Glioblastoma progression in mouse models of brain cancer, after treatment with CBD

Arachidonylethanolamide induces apoptosis of human glioma cells through vanilloid receptor-1.

“The anti-tumor properties of cannabinoids have recently been evidenced, mainly with delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Here we investigated whether the most potent endogenous cannabinoid, arachidonylethanolamide (AEA), could be a candidate.

We observed that AEA induced apoptosis in long-term and recently established glioma cell lines via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1 (VR1).

In contrast with their role in THC-mediated death, both CB1 and CB2 partially protected glioma against AEA-induced apoptosis.

These data show that the selective targeting of VR1 by AEA or more stable analogues is an attractive research area for the treatment of glioma.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15453094

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/gllomas/

It’s “BRAIN TUMOR AWARENESS MONTH”. Please, BE AWARE:

“A glioma is a primary brain tumor that originates from the supportive cells of the brain, called glial cells.” http://neurosurgery.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=159

“Long-term use of both mobile and cordless phones is associated with an increased risk for glioma, the most common type of brain tumor, the latest research on the subject concludes.”  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/834888

“Remarkably, cannabinoids kill glioma cells selectively and can protect non-transformed glial cells from death… cannabinoids-the active components of the plant Cannabis sativa.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15275820

Green Party politician Ian Driver wants a Cannabis cafe to open in Kent

“Molecular mechanisms involved in the antitumor activity of cannabinoids… Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa, have been shown to exert antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects on a wide spectrum of tumor cells… Of interest, cannabinoids have displayed great potency in reducing the growth of glioma tumors… Cannabinoids appear to be selective antitumoral agents as they kill glioma cells without affecting the viability of non-transformed cells. Cannabinoids have been proven to inhibit glioma tumor growth… Since cannabinoids kill tumor cells without toxicity on their non transformed counterparts, they can represent a class of new potential anticancer drugs.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3835116/
“Antitumor effects of THC.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240145/

“…cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, is able to kill glioma cells, both in vivo and in vitro, independently of cannabinoid receptor stimulation… CBD exerts its antitumoral effects through modulation of the LOX pathway and of the endocannabinoid system…” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18028339

“Antitumor effects of cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, on human glioma cell lines… Marijuana and its derivatives have been used in medicine for many centuries… cannabinoids (CBs) have been shown to possess antitumor properties… the nonpsychoactive CBD was able to produce a significant antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo,” http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/308/3/838.long

“Cannabinoids appear to be selective antitumoral agents as they kill glioma cells without affecting the viability of nontransformed counterparts… good safety profile… remarkable antitumor effects… anticancer activity of cannabinoids.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18088200

“Marijuana Could Cure Cancer And Brain Tumors, Suggests Study” http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/13835/20150416/marijuana-fight-both-cancer-brain-tumour-research.htm

“Marijuana can kill cancer cells and even shrink brain tumours, amazing new findings reveal” http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/marijuana-can-kill-cancer-cells-5502082

“Cannabis extract shrinks brain tumours” http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6283-cannabis-extract-shrinks-brain-tumours.html#.VUSoGlU4nTY

“Cannabis chemicals slows down brain cancer tumour: British Scientists” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Cannabis-chemicals-slows-down-brain-cancer-tumour-British-Scientists/articleshow/45166303.cms

“Cannabis reduce tumour growth in cancer patients” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Cannabis-reduce-tumour-growth-in-cancer-patients/articleshow/38456886.cms

“Cannabis can cure cancer and even shrink brain tumours” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Cannabis-can-cure-cancer-and-even-shrink-brain-tumours/articleshow/46902373.cms

“Cannabinoids may cause antitumor effects by various mechanisms, including induction of cell death, inhibition of cell growth, and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis invasion and metastasis. Cannabinoids appear to kill tumor cells but do not affect their nontransformed counterparts and may even protect them from cell death.” https://medicine.yale.edu/cancer/patient/programs/sarcoma/info/info.aspx?id=CDR683767

“Study: Thinking Can Speed Up Brain Tumour Growth”
http://au.ibtimes.com/study-thinking-can-speed-brain-tumour-growth-1443392

“Cannabis Significantly Prevents Tumour Growth in Cancer Patients” http://au.ibtimes.com/cannabis-significantly-preventstumour-growth-cancer-patients-1347319

“Cannabis Extracts ‘Drastically Reduce’ Brain Tumour Size” http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cannabis-extracts-drastically-reduce-brain-tumour-size-1475399

“Brain Tumors And Cell Phone Use Found To Be Linked (Again)” http://www.medicaldaily.com/brain-tumors-and-cell-phone-use-found-be-linked-again-310460

“Brain Tumors Removed Through The Eye Socket In Revolutionary Operation” http://www.medicaldaily.com/brain-tumors-removed-through-eye-socket-revolutionary-operation-319650

“Cannabis Shrinks Brain Tumors Associated With Highly Aggressive Form Of Cancer” http://www.medicaldaily.com/cannabis-shrinks-brain-tumors-associated-highly-aggressive-form-cancer-310720

“Towards the use of cannabinoids as antitumour agents. Various reports have shown that cannabinoids (the active components of marijuana and their derivatives) can reduce tumour growth and progression in animal models of cancer, in addition to their well-known palliative effects on some cancer-associated symptoms. This article discusses our current understanding of cannabinoids as antitumour agents”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22555283

“…antitumor effects of cannabinoids in gliomas… canabinnoids exercised selective antitumoral action in several distinct tumor models. Thereby, normal cells used as controls were not affected. The safety factor in the cannabinoids’ administration has also been demonstrated in vivo. The various cannabinoids tested in multiple tumor models showed antitumoral effects both in vitro and in vivo. These findings indicate that cannabinoids are promising compounds for the treatment of gliomas.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24142199

“The tumors regressed over the same period of time that cannabis was consumed via inhalation, raising the possibility that the cannabis played a role in the tumor regression.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21336992

“CB1 and CB2 expression levels have been detected in human tumors, including those of brain. Cannabinoids-endocannabinoids exert anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, anti-invasive, anti-metastatic and pro-apoptotic effects in different cancer types, both in vitro and in vivo animal models, after local or systemic administration. We present the available experimental and clinical data, to date, regarding the antitumor action of cannabinoids on the tumorigenesis of gliomas.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25472761

“The efficacy of cannabinoids against high-grade glioma in animal models, mediated by two specific receptors, CB1 and CB2, raised promises for targeted treatment of the most frequent and malignant primary brain tumors… The high levels of CB2 expression would predestine those tumors to be vulnerable to cannabinoid treatment.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17239827

“Cannabinoids may cause antitumor effects by various mechanisms, including induction of cell death, inhibition of cell growth, and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis invasion and metastasis… molecular mechanisms of action of cannabinoids as antitumor agents. Cannabinoids appear to kill tumor cells but do not affect their nontransformed counterparts and may even protect them from cell death… these compounds have been shown to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in glioma cells in culture and induce regression of glioma tumors in mice and rats, while they protect normal glial cells…” http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional/page4

“As a therapeutic agent, most people are familiar with the palliative effects of the primary psychoactive constituent of Cannabis sativa (CS), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a molecule active at both the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid 2 (CB2) receptors… however, several studies have now shown that CB1 and CB2 receptor agonists can act as direct antitumor agents in a variety of aggressive cancers.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25916739

“CANNABIS can help cancer patients: Drug kills cancer cells and shrinks brain tumours, report reveals.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3036667/How-cannabis-help-cancer-patients-Drug-kills-cancer-cells-shrinks-brain-tumours-report-reveals.html

“Active Component In Marijuana Targets Aggressive Brain Cancer Cells… cannabinoids such as THC had anticancer effects in mice with human brain cancer cells AND PEOPLE with brain tumors.” http://www.webmd.com/cancer/brain-cancer/news/20090401/marijuana-chemical-may-fight-brain-cancer

“Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673842/

“Active Ingredient in Marijuana Inhibits Cancer Growth…the cannabinoids found in marijuana may aid in brain tumor treatment…cannabinoids inhibited genes needed for the production of vascular growth factor (VEGF) in laboratory mice with glioma brain tumors AND TWO PATIENTS with late-stage glioblastoma multiforme, a form of brain cancer.” http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20040815/marijuana-stall-brain-tumor-growth

“Cannabinoids Inhibit the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Pathway in Gliomas… Because blockade of the VEGF pathway constitutes one of the most promising antitumoral approaches currently available, the present findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies.” http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/64/16/5617.long

“Marijuana’s Active Ingredient Targets Deadly Brain Cancer… cannabinoids could stop growth and kill cancer cells but did not harm normal cells.” http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20000228/marijuanas-active-ingredient-targets-deadly-brain-cancer

“Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: Involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation” http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v6/n3/abs/nm0300_313.html

“Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa L., inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals by inducing apoptosis of tumor cells and inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. It has also been reported that cannabinoids inhibit tumor cell invasiveness… Local administration of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active ingredient of cannabis, down-regulated TIMP-1 expression in mice bearing subcutaneous gliomas… THC also depressed TIMP-1 expression in cultures of various human glioma cell lines as well as in primary tumor cells obtained from a glioblastoma multiforme patient… TIMP-1 down-regulation may be a hallmark of cannabinoid-induced inhibition of glioma progression.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17675107

“Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa L… inhibit tumor growth by inducing apoptosis of tumor cells and impairing tumor angiogenesis… these compounds inhibit tumor cell spreading… Local administration of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active ingredient of cannabis, down-regulated MMP-2 expression in gliomas generated in mice… MMP-2 down-regulation constitutes a new hallmark of cannabinoid antitumoral activity.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18339876

“Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa… Cannabinoids exert various palliative effects in cancer patients. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit the growth of different types of tumor cells, including glioma cells… Of interest, cannabinoids seem to be selective antitumoral compounds, as they kill glioma cells, but not their non-transformed astroglial counterparts.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17952650

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/brain-cancer/

The Antitumor Activity of Plant-Derived Non-Psychoactive Cannabinoids.

“As a therapeutic agent, most people are familiar with the palliative effects of the primary psychoactive constituent of Cannabis sativa (CS), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a molecule active at both the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid 2 (CB2) receptor subtypes.

Through the activation primarily of CB1 receptors in the central nervous system, THC can reduce nausea, emesis and pain in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

During the last decade, however, several studies have now shown that CB1 and CB2 receptor agonists can act as direct antitumor agents in a variety of aggressive cancers.

In addition to THC, there are many other cannabinoids found in CS, and a majority produces little to no psychoactivity due to the inability to activate cannabinoid receptors.

For example, the second most abundant cannabinoid in CS is the non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD). Using animal models, CBD has been shown to inhibit the progression of many types of cancer including glioblastoma (GBM), breast, lung, prostate and colon cancer.

This review will center on mechanisms by which CBD, and other plant-derived cannabinoids inefficient at activating cannabinoid receptors, inhibit tumor cell viability, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and the stem-like potential of cancer cells.

We will also discuss the ability of non-psychoactive cannabinoids to induce autophagy and apoptotic-mediated cancer cell death, and enhance the activity of first-line agents commonly used in cancer treatment.”

Cannabidiol stimulates Aml-1a-dependent glial differentiation and inhibits glioma stem-like cells proliferation by inducing autophagy in a TRPV2-dependent manner.

“Glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) correspond to a tumor cell subpopulation, involved in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor initiation and acquired chemoresistance. Currently, drug-induced differentiation is considered as a promising approach to eradicate this tumor-driving cell population.

Recently, the effect of cannabinoids (CBs) in promoting glial differentiation and inhibiting gliomagenesis has been evidenced. Herein, we demonstrated that cannabidiol (CBD) by activating Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid-2 (TRPV2) triggers GSCs differentiation activating the autophagic process and inhibits GSCs proliferation and clonogenic capability.

Above all, CBD and carmustine (BCNU) in combination overcome the high resistance of GSCs to BCNU treatment, by inducing apoptotic cell death…

Altogether, these results support a novel mechanism by which CBD inducing TRPV2-dependent autophagic process stimulates Aml-1a-dependent GSCs differentiation, abrogating the BCNU chemoresistance in GSCs.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25903924

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/gllomas/