β-elemene promotes the senescence of glioma cells through regulating YAP-CDK6 signaling.

Glioma is currently the most widespread and malignant primary intracranial tumor, which is characterized by high heterogeneity and high fatality rates. β-elemene, which is a bioactive compound extracted from a Chinese herb, Curcuma wenyujin, has been reported to reduce resistance of chemotherapeutic drugs and induce apoptosis in tumor cells. However, the role and mechanisms of β-elemene in glioma senescence remains unknown. In the present study, we found that a low concentration of β-elemene (10 μg/mL) induced senescence in glioma cells, including reduction of cell proliferation, hypertrophic morphology, increase of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) activity, upregulation of several senescence-associated genes such as