Malignant gliomas are highly proliferative and invasive tumors with poor prognosis. We investigated the influence of Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on the human malignant glioma cell line A172, measuring cell viability (MTT-test), proliferation (3H-thymidine-uptake), cell death (FACS) adhesion to hyaluronic acid (HA, adhesion-assay) and migration (Boyden-chamber). IFN-gamma significantly decreased cell viability and proliferation. Measured by FACS, an up-regulation of CD95 expression has been shown in combination with an increased rate of cell death, first seen after 96 hours IFN-gamma treatment. Adhesion to HA was decreased after pre-treatment with IFN-gamma. This was not mediated by down-regulation of the main HA-receptor CD44, since IFN-gamma did not change CD44 expression. IFN-gamma-treated cells showed a significantly diminished migration rate through a native or HA-coated 8-microm polycarbonate membrane. To summarise, IFN-gamma influences both the main characteristics of malignancy: it decreases cell proliferation and induces cell death, further it diminishes migration of A172 human glioblastoma cells.