Oridonin suppresses the growth of glioblastoma cells via inhibiting Hippo/YAP axis

Abstract Glioma is a brain tumor that originated from brain or spine glial cells. Despite utilizing alternative treatments, the overall survival remains poor. Oridonin (ORI) is purified from the Chinese herb Rabdosia rubescens which exhibited anti-cancer effects on human tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ORI on U87MG glioblastoma cells and whether Hippo/YAP-related signaling pathway was involved in. Here, we found that ORI inhibited cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in U87MG cells. Moreover, ORI inhibited Bcl-2, YAP, c-Myc protein expression but increased Bax, caspase-3, p-YAP protein expression. Furthermore, these anti-cancer effects of ORI were also confirmed in a mouse model bearing glioma. Further study suggested that the YAP inhibitor Verteporfin (VP) showed the similar effect of ORI, but ORI reversed the effect of over-expression of YAP. Collectively, Oridonin suppressed glioblastoma oncogenesis via the Hippo/YAP signaling pathway and could be a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of glioblastoma.