Allopregnanolone Promotes Proliferation and Differential Gene Expression in Human Glioblastoma Cells

In the 2017 study, researchers investigated the effects of Allopregnanolone (3α-THP), a metabolite of progesterone (P4), on the proliferation and gene expression of U87 human glioblastoma (GBM) cells. They found that 3α-THP at concentrations of 10, 100 nM, and 1 μM increased the number of U87 cells, with 10 nM showing a similar increase in total and proliferative cells as P4 at the same concentration. The study also revealed that finasteride, an inhibitor of 5α-reductase (the enzyme required to convert P4 to 3α-THP), blocked the P4-induced increase in cell numbers. Additionally, 3α-THP at 10 nM upregulated the expression of genes associated with tumor progression, such as TGFβ1, EGFR, VEGF, and cyclin D1. P4 also increased the expression of TGFβ1 and EGFR, but this effect was inhibited by finasteride. The study concluded that P4, via its metabolite 3α-THP, could promote cell proliferation in human GBM cells by altering the expression of genes involved in tumor growth.