Glioma causes significant mortality across the world and the most aggressive type of brain cancer. The incidence of glioma is believed to increase in the next few decades and hence more efficient treatment strategies need to be developed for management of glioma. Herein, we examined the anticancer effects of Indirubin against a panel of human glioma cells and attempted to explore the underlying mechanisms. The results of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that Indirubin could inhibit the growth of all the glioma cells but the lowest IC₅₀ of 12.5 µM was observed against the U87 and U118 glioma cells. Additionally, the cytotoxic effects of Indirubin were comparatively negligible against the normal astrocytes with an IC₅₀ of > 100 µM. Investigation of mechanism of action, revealed that Indirubin exerts growth inhibitory effects on the U87 and U118 glioma cells by autophagic and apoptotic cell death. Annexin V/PI staining assay showed that apoptotic cell percentage increased dose dependently. Apoptosis was associated with increase in Bax decrease in Bcl-2 expressions. Additionally, the expression of autophagic proteins such as LC3II, ATG12, ATG15 and Beclin 1 was also increased. Wound heal assay showed that Indirubin caused remarkable decrease in the migration of the U87 and U118 cells indicative of anti-metastatic potential of Indirubin. Taken together, these results suggest that Indirubin exerts potent anticancer effects on glioma cells and may prove essential in the management of glioma.

胶质瘤在世界范围内造成了巨大的死亡率，也是最具侵略性的脑癌。人们认为神经胶质瘤的发病率在未来几十年会增加，因此需要开发出更有效的治疗策略来管理神经胶质瘤。在本文中，我们研究了靛玉红对一组人类神经胶质瘤细胞的抗癌作用，并试图探索其潜在机制。3-（4,5-二甲基噻唑-2-基）-2,5-二苯基溴化四氮唑（MTT）分析的结果表明，靛玉红可以抑制所有神经胶质瘤细胞的生长，但最低IC ₅₀为12.5 µM。针对U87和U118胶质瘤细胞。此外，使用IC ₅₀，靛玉红对正常星形胶质细胞的细胞毒性作用可忽略不计。> 100 µM。作用机理的研究表明，靛玉红通过自噬和凋亡细胞死亡对U87和U118胶质瘤细胞产生生长抑制作用。Annexin V / PI染色试验显示凋亡细胞百分比增加剂量依赖性。凋亡与Bcl-2表达中Bax减少的增加有关。此外，自噬蛋白如LC3II，ATG12，ATG15和Beclin 1的表达也增加了。伤口愈合分析表明，靛玉红引起U87和U118细胞迁移的明显减少，表明靛玉红具有抗转移潜力。综上所述，这些结果表明，靛玉红对神经胶质瘤细胞发挥有效的抗癌作用，并且可能证明对神经胶质瘤的治疗至关重要。