Momordicine I suppresses glioma growth by promoting apoptosis and impairing mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common type of primary brain tumor. Patients with GBM have poor survival outcomes. Isolated components of Momordica charantia have anticancer effects. However, the bioactivity of M. charantia extracts against GBM remains unknown. We tested four major extracts of M. charantia and found that momordicine I reduced glioma cell viability without serious cytotoxic effects on astrocytes. Momordicine I suppressed glioma cell colony formation, proliferation, migration, and invasion. Momordicine I also induced apoptosis, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and senescence in glioma cells. Moreover, momordicine I decreased the oxidative phosphorylation capacity of glioma cells and inhibited tumor sphere formation in temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant GBM cells. We further explored whether the antiglioma effect of momordicine I may be related to cell cycle modulation and DLGPA5 expression. Our results indicate that the cytotoxic effect of momordicine I on glioma cells suggests its potential therapeutic application to GBM treatment. See also Figure 1(Fig. 1).