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Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) stands out as the most prevalent and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults, marked by a high mortality rate. Standard therapy involves temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy, an alkylating agent. However, most cases develop resistance to TMZ, necessitating the development of new treatment options to overcome TMZ-resistant GBM. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) constitute a class of RNA molecules that, despite not encoding proteins, play pivotal roles in regulating diverse cellular processes. Overexpression of specific lncRNAs in cancer is linked to crucial aspects of cancer progression, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Taurine upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) is a highly expressed lncRNA in GBM, playing a crucial role in preventing excessive DNA replication stress and associated DNA damage (Nat Commun 2023). This study aimed to investigate the combined effects of TUG1 depletion and TMZ in TMZ-resistant GBM. First, we established a TMZ-resistant U251MG cell line, U251MG-R, characterized by a low DNA methylation level of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter. We observed that TMZ increased DNA replication stress in the U251MG-R. Depleting TUG1 by using antisense oligonucleotide (TUG1-ASO) sensitized U251MG-R cells to TMZ. Treatment with TMZ or TUG1-ASO alone inhibited cell proliferation, with the most significant inhibition observed when both were combined. Next, we employed a xenograft mouse model to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous TUG1-ASO treatment coupled with a tumor-specific drug delivery system (antiTUG1-DDS). The combination of antiTUG1-DDS with TMZ displayed the most effective suppression of tumor growth compared to either TMZ or antiTUG1-DDS alone. Targeted therapy aimed at TUG1 may be a promising approach for overcoming TMZ resistance in GBM. Citation Format: Hidekazu Kito, Yuji Kibe, Miho Suzuki, Keiko Shinjo, Yutaka Kondo. Synergistic impact of long non-coding RNA TUG1 depletion in overcoming temozolomide chemoresistance in glioblastoma abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts) ; 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (6Suppl): Abstract nr 3286.
Kito et al. (Fri,) studied this question.