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¹ Biotechnology Research Center, Field Crops Central Research Institute, 06170, Ankara, Türkiye DOI : 10.38042/biotechstudies.1472022 - Rhein (4,5-dihydroxyanthraquinone-2-carboxylic acid) is a plant metabolite found in rhubarbs. It inhibits cell proliferation and stimulates apoptosis in in vivo and in vitro. However, research into the molecular mechanisms of action is insufficient for recommending it as a therapeutic agent. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the antiproliferative, apoptotic, and antimetastatic effects of rhein by targeting the TGF-β signaling pathway, and apoptotic pathway in glioblastoma cells (U87 GBM). In this study, the XTT assay was utilized to determine cell viability, the colony formation assay to measure cell survival and proliferation, RT-qPCR for the analysis of gene expressions, and ELISA for the detection of proteins. U87 GBM cells were treated with varying concentrations of rhein (5-100 μM) in a time-dependent manner (24, 48 h), after which the percentage of cell viability was calculated. The colony formation assay was performed by treating cells with the IC50 dose of rhein. According to the XTT assay, the IC50 dose of rhein was determined as 10 μM at 24 h. The ability to form colonies was significantly decreased in the cells of the treatment group. According to the gene expression analysis, rhein increased the mRNA levels of CASP3, -8, -9, BAX, and TGF-β1 genes, while a notable decrease was observed in the BCL-2, SMAD2, SMAD3, and TIMP1 genes. In conclusion, it was determined that rhein induces apoptosis via the non-canonical TGF-β pathway. Keywords : Apoptosis Cell viability Colony formation Rhein TGF-ß