Effect of Tranexamic Acid on Migration Ability and Level of Matrix Metalloproteinases-2 and -9 of T98G and HUVEC Cells in Co-Culture Conditions

High infiltration of glioma cells into the surrounding brain tissue is the cause of treatment failure in glioblastoma. Glioblastoma interactions with endothelial cells increase the migration of cancer cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) on reducing the migration of glioblastoma and endothelial cells and the levels of metalloproteinases-2 and -9 (MMP-2/9) in co-culture conditions.

In this experimental study, cells prepared from Pasteur Institute were treated with different concentrations of TXA in mono-culture and co-culture. Cell survival was determined by MTT assay. The rate of migration was assessed by making grooves in the culture dishes and comparing the groove area at different time intervals in the control and treated groups with 6 and 24 mM TXA. The levels of MMP-2/9 enzymes in the control group and cells treated with 6 mM TXA were assessed by zymography.

Decreased survival of T98G and HUVECs cells was observed in mono- and co-culture from 60 mM TXA and above (p=0.0001). Groove area in HUVECs group treated with 6 and 24 mM TXA were 0.27±0.05 and 0.36±0.04 of initial groove area, respectively, which was significant compared to the control group (p=0.034, p=0.005). No difference in groove size was observed in T98G cells. In co-culture group, the groove size 36 hours after the start of the study in the control group was 0.12±0.01, which was significantly lower than T98G + HUVECs groups treated with 6 (0.28±0.06) and 24 (0.39±0.07) mM TXA (p=0.01 and p=0.002). TXA significantly reduced the levels of MMP-2 (p=0.0001) and MMP-9 (p=0.0001) in co-culture conditions.

The results showed that TXA could reduce the migration of glioblastoma and endothelial cells as well as the levels of MMP-2/9 in co-culture conditions.