Proteomic and metabolomic signatures of U87 glioblastoma cells treated with cisplatin and/or paclitaxel.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary malignancy of the central nervous system and is classified as a grade IV astrocytoma by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although GBM rarely metastasizes, its prognosis remains poor. Moreover, the standard treatment for GBM, temozolomide (TMZ), is associated with chemoresistance, which is a major factor behind GBM-related deaths. Investigating drugs with repurposing potential in the context of GBM is worthwhile to bypass lengthy bench-to-bedside research. The field of omics has garnered significant interest in scientific research because of its potential to delineate the intricate regulatory network underlying tumor development. In particular, proteomic and metabolomic analyses are powerful approaches for the investigation of metabolic enzymes and intermediate metabolites since they represent the functional end of the cancer phenotype.

Methods: We chose two of the most widely prescribed anticancer drugs, cisplatin and paclitaxel. To our knowledge, the current literature lacks studies examining their effects on metabolic and proteomic alterations in GBM. We employed the mass spectrometry technological platform 'UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS' to examine the changes in the proteome and metabolome profiles of the U87 cell line with defined concentrations of cisplatin and/or paclitaxel an untargeted approach.

Results: A total of 1,419 distinct proteins and 90 metabolites were generated, and subsequent analysis was performed. We observed that upon treatment with cisplatin (9.5 μM), U87 cells exhibited apparent efforts to cope with this exogenous stressor, understanding the effect of paclitaxel (5.3 μM) on altering the transport machinery of the cell, and how the combination of cisplatin and/or paclitaxel suggests potential interactions with promising benefits in GBM therapeutics.

Conclusion: Our research provides a detailed map of alterations in response to cisplatin and paclitaxel treatment, provides crucial insights into the molecular basis of their action, and paves the way for further research to identify molecular targets for this elusive malignancy.