AUTHOR=Sarkar Susobhan , Li Yibo , Mirzaei Reza , Rawji Khalil S. , Poon Candice C. , Wang Jianxiong , Kumar Mehul , Bose Pinaki , Yong V. Wee TITLE=Demeclocycline Reduces the Growth of Human Brain Tumor-Initiating Cells: Direct Activity and Through Monocytes JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00272 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.00272 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Myeloid cells that infiltrate into brain tumors are deactivated or exploited by the tumor cells. We previously demonstrated that compromised microglia, monocytes, and macrophages in malignant gliomas could be reactivated by amphotericin-B to contain the growth of brain tumorinitiating cells (BTICs). We identified meclocycline as another activator of microglia, so we sought to test whether its better-tolerated derivative, demeclocycline, also stimulates monocytes to restrict BTIC growth. Monocytes were selected for study as they would be exposed to demeclocycline in the circulation prior to entry into brain tumors to become macrophages. We found that demeclocycline increased the activity of monocytes in culture, as determined by tumor necrosis factor-α production and chemotactic capacity. The conditioned medium of demeclocycline-stimulated monocytes attenuated the growth of BTICs generated from human glioblastoma resections, as evaluated using neurosphere and alamarBlue assays, and cell counts. Demeclocycline also had direct effects in reducing BTIC growth. A global gene expression screen identified several genes, such as DNA damage inducible transcript 4, frizzled class receptor 5 and reactive oxygen species modulator 1, as potential regulators of demeclocycline-mediated BTIC growth reduction. Amongst several tetracycline derivatives, only demeclocycline directly reduced BTIC growth. In summary, we have identified demeclocycline as a novel inhibitor of the growth of BTICs, through direct effect and through indirect stimulation of monocytes. Demeclocycline is a candidate to reactivate compromised immune cells to improve the prognosis of patients with gliomas.