Glycyrrhetinic acid induces anoikis-like death and cytoskeletal disruption in the central nervous system tumorigenic cells.

We analyzed the effects of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), a licorice compound, on the induction of anoikis-like death and cytoskeletal disruption in the central nervous system (CNS) tumorigenic cells. GA was cytotoxic in time- and dose-dependent manners, and the tumorigenic cells shed floating cells upon the GA treatment and even some of the adherent cells were easily detached from the fibronectin-coated culture dish by gentle shaking and aspiration. Reculture of the detached cells revealed that the longer the duration of GA exposure, the less the number of the proliferatable cells. These results indicate that GA perturbs cell adhesion and induces anoikis-like cell death. Further, GA also induced morphologic changes and disturbed cytoskeletal proteins.