Glioma is the most prevalent
brain tumor, presenting with limited treatment options, while patients with
malignant glioma and
glioblastoma (GBM) have poor prognoses. The physical obstacle to
drug delivery imposed by the blood‒brain barrier (BBB) and
glioma stem cells (GSCs), which are widely recognized as crucial elements contributing to the unsatisfactory clinical outcomes. In this study, we found a small molecule,
gambogic amide (GA-
amide), exhibited the ability to effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and displayed a notable enrichment within the
tumor region. Moreover, GA-
amide exhibited significant efficacy in inhibiting
tumor growth across various in vivo
glioma models, encompassing transgenic and primary patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. We further performed a genome-wide clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) knockout screen to determine the druggable target of GA-
amide. By the combination of the cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), the
drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) approach, molecular docking simulation and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis, WD repeat domain 1 (WDR1) was identified as the direct binding target of GA-
amide. Through direct interaction with WDR1, GA-
amide promoted the formation of a complex involving WDR1, MYH9 and
Cofilin, which accelerate the depolymerization of
F-actin to inhibit the invasion of patient-derived
glioma cells (PDCs) and induce PDC apoptosis via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In conclusion, our study not only identified GA-
amide as an effective and safe agent for treating
glioma but also shed light on the underlying mechanisms of GA-
amide from the perspective of cytoskeletal homeostasis.