bims-malgli Biomed News
on Biology of malignant gliomas
Issue of 2021–01–10
sixteen papers selected by
Oltea Sampetrean, Keio University
  1. Piwil1 Regulates Glioma Stem Cell Maintenance and Glioblastoma Progression.
  2. Rab27b contributes to radioresistance and exerts a paracrine effect via epiregulin in glioblastoma.
  3. EGFR/SRC/ERK-stabilized YTHDF2 promotes cholesterol dysregulation and invasive growth of glioblastoma.
  4. Sequential fate-switches in stem-like cells drive the tumorigenic trajectory from human neural stem cells to malignant glioma.
  5. Loss of COPZ1 induces NCOA4 mediated autophagy and ferroptosis in glioblastoma cell lines.
  6. Blocking NHE1 stimulates glioma tumor immunity by restoring OXPHOS function of myeloid cells.
  7. Glioma stem cells and their roles within the hypoxic tumor microenvironment.
  8. Metabolic changes and anti-tumor effects of a ketogenic diet combined with anti-angiogenic therapy in a glioblastoma mouse model.
  9. Tumor edge-to-core transition promotes malignancy in primary-to-recurrent glioblastoma progression in a PLAGL1/CD109-mediated mechanism.
  10. Inhibition of Gli2 suppresses tumorigenicity in glioblastoma stem cells derived from a de novo murine brain cancer model.
  11. Non-invasive assessment of telomere maintenance mechanisms in brain tumors.
  12. Hypoxia-induced PLOD1 overexpression contributes to the malignant phenotype of glioblastoma via NF-κB signaling.
  13. Vascular dysfunction promotes regional hypoxia after bevacizumab therapy in recurrent glioblastoma patients.
  14. Defining phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of glioblastoma stem cells by mass cytometry.
  15. Molecular classification and deconvolution of the immune microenvironment in glioblastoma.
  16. MEX3A contributes to development and progression of glioma through regulating cell proliferation and cell migration and targeting CCL2.
  1. Cell Rep. 2021 Jan 05. pii: S2211-1247(20)31511-4. [Epub ahead of print]34(1): 108522
    Piwil1 Regulates Glioma Stem Cell Maintenance and Glioblastoma Progression.
    Haidong Huang, Xingjiang Yu, Xiangzi Han, Jing Hao, Jianjun Zhao, Gurkan Bebek, Shideng Bao, Richard A Prayson, Ahmad M Khalil, Eckhard Jankowsky, Jennifer S Yu.
      Piwi proteins are a subfamily of Argonaute proteins that maintain germ cells in eukaryotes. However, the role of their human homologs in cancer stem cells, and more broadly in cancer, is poorly understood. Here, we report that Piwi-like family members are overexpressed in glioblastoma (GBM), with Piwil1 (Hiwi) most frequently overexpressed (88%). Piwil1 is enriched in glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) to maintain self-renewal. Silencing Piwil1 in GSCs leads to global changes in gene expression resulting in cell-cycle arrest, senescence, or apoptosis. Piwil1 knockdown increases expression of the transcriptional co-regulator BTG2 and the E3-ubiquitin ligase FBXW7, leading to reduced c-Myc expression, as well as loss of expression of stem cell factors Olig2 and Nestin. Piwil1 regulates mRNA stability of BTG2, FBXW7, and CDKN1B. In animal models of GBM, Piwil1 knockdown suppresses tumor growth and promotes mouse survival. These findings support a role of Piwil1 in GSC maintenance and glioblastoma progression.
    Keywords:  BTG2; CT antigen; FBXW7; Piwi; apoptosis; cell cycle; glioblastoma; glioma stem cell; piRNA; senescence
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108522
  2. Neurooncol Adv. 2020 Jan-Dec;2(1):2(1): vdaa091
    Rab27b contributes to radioresistance and exerts a paracrine effect via epiregulin in glioblastoma.
    Soichiro Nishioka, Ping-Hsiu Wu, Toshiaki Yakabe, Amato J Giaccia, Quynh-Thu Le, Hidefumi Aoyama, Shinichi Shimizu, Hiroki Shirato, Yasuhito Onodera, Jin-Min Nam.
       Background: Radiotherapy is the standard treatment for glioblastoma (GBM). However, radioresistance of GBM cells leads to recurrence and poor patient prognosis. Recent studies suggest that secretion factors have important roles in radioresistance of tumor cells. This study aims to determine whether Rab27b, a small GTPase involved in secretory vesicle trafficking, plays a role in radioresistance of GBM.
    Methods: Microarray analysis, cell viability analysis, apoptosis assay, immunostaining, and in vivo experiments were performed to assess the effect of Rab27b on radioresistance of GBM. We further investigated paracrine effects mediated by Rab27b after X-ray irradiation using coculture systems of glioma cell lines.
    Results: Rab27b was specifically upregulated in irradiated U87MG cells. Furthermore, Rab27b knockdown decreased the proliferation of GBM cells after irradiation. Knockdown of Rab27b in U87MG cells combined with radiation treatment suppressed orthotopic tumor growth in the mouse brain and prolonged the survival of recipient mice. Interestingly, the co-upregulation of Rab27b and epiregulin (EREG), a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family, correlated with radioresistance in glioma cell lines. Additionally, EREG, which was secreted from U87MG cells via Rab27b-mediated mechanism, activated EGF receptor and contributed to H4 cell proliferation in a paracrine manner.
    Conclusions: Our results show that Rab27b mediates the radioresistance of highly malignant GBM cells. Rab27b promotes the proliferation of adjacent cells through EREG-mediated paracrine signaling after irradiation. Thus, the Rab27b-EREG pathway is a novel potential target to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy in GBM.
    Keywords:  Rab27b; epiregulin; glioblastoma; paracrine; radioresistance
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/noajnl/vdaa091
  3. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 08. 12(1): 177
    EGFR/SRC/ERK-stabilized YTHDF2 promotes cholesterol dysregulation and invasive growth of glioblastoma.
    Runping Fang, Xin Chen, Sicong Zhang, Hui Shi, Youqiong Ye, Hailing Shi, Zhongyu Zou, Peng Li, Qing Guo, Li Ma, Chuan He, Suyun Huang.
      Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common type of adult malignant brain tumor, but its molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In addition, the knowledge of the disease-associated expression and function of YTHDF2 remains very limited. Here, we show that YTHDF2 overexpression clinically correlates with poor glioma patient prognosis. EGFR that is constitutively activated in the majority of GBM causes YTHDF2 overexpression through the EGFR/SRC/ERK pathway. EGFR/SRC/ERK signaling phosphorylates YTHDF2 serine39 and threonine381, thereby stabilizes YTHDF2 protein. YTHDF2 is required for GBM cell proliferation, invasion, and tumorigenesis. YTHDF2 facilitates m6A-dependent mRNA decay of LXRA and HIVEP2, which impacts the glioma patient survival. YTHDF2 promotes tumorigenesis of GBM cells, largely through the downregulation of LXRα and HIVEP2. Furthermore, YTHDF2 inhibits LXRα-dependent cholesterol homeostasis in GBM cells. Together, our findings extend the landscape of EGFR downstream circuit, uncover the function of YTHDF2 in GBM tumorigenesis, and highlight an essential role of RNA m6A methylation in cholesterol homeostasis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20379-7
  4. Cell Res. 2021 Jan 04.
    Sequential fate-switches in stem-like cells drive the tumorigenic trajectory from human neural stem cells to malignant glioma.
    Xiaofei Wang, Ran Zhou, Yanzhen Xiong, Lingling Zhou, Xiang Yan, Manli Wang, Fan Li, Chuanxing Xie, Yiming Zhang, Zongyao Huang, Chaoqiong Ding, Kaidou Shi, Weida Li, Yu Liu, Zhongwei Cao, Zhen-Ning Zhang, Shengtao Zhou, Chong Chen, Yan Zhang, Lu Chen, Yuan Wang.
      Glioblastoma (GBM) is an incurable and highly heterogeneous brain tumor, originating from human neural stem/progenitor cells (hNSCs/hNPCs) years ahead of diagnosis. Despite extensive efforts to characterize hNSCs and end-stage GBM at bulk and single-cell levels, the de novo gliomagenic path from hNSCs is largely unknown due to technical difficulties in early-stage sampling and preclinical modeling. Here, we established two highly penetrant hNSC-derived malignant glioma models, which resemble the histopathology and transcriptional heterogeneity of human GBM. Integrating time-series analyses of whole-exome sequencing, bulk and single-cell RNA-seq, we reconstructed gliomagenic trajectories, and identified a persistent NSC-like population at all stages of tumorigenesis. Through trajectory analyses and lineage tracing, we showed that tumor progression is primarily driven by multi-step transcriptional reprogramming and fate-switches in the NSC-like cells, which sequentially generate malignant heterogeneity and induce tumor phenotype transitions. We further uncovered stage-specific oncogenic cascades, and among the candidate genes we functionally validated C1QL1 as a new glioma-promoting factor. Importantly, the neurogenic-to-gliogenic switch in NSC-like cells marks an early stage characterized by a burst of oncogenic alterations, during which transient AP-1 inhibition is sufficient to inhibit gliomagenesis. Together, our results reveal previously undercharacterized molecular dynamics and fate choices driving de novo gliomagenesis from hNSCs, and provide a blueprint for potential early-stage treatment/diagnosis for GBM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-020-00451-z
  5. Oncogene. 2021 Jan 08.
    Loss of COPZ1 induces NCOA4 mediated autophagy and ferroptosis in glioblastoma cell lines.
    Yulin Zhang, Yang Kong, Yuan Ma, Shilei Ni, Tobias Wikerholmen, Kaiyan Xi, Feihu Zhao, Zhimin Zhao, Junpeng Wang, Bin Huang, Anjing Chen, Zhong Yao, Mingzhi Han, Zichao Feng, Yaotian Hu, Frits Thorsen, Jian Wang, Xingang Li.
      Dysregulated iron metabolism is a hallmark of many cancers, including glioblastoma (GBM). However, its role in tumor progression remains unclear. Herein, we identified coatomer protein complex subunit zeta 1 (COPZ1) as a therapeutic target candidate which significantly dysregulated iron metabolism in GBM cells. Overexpression of COPZ1 was associated with increasing tumor grade and poor prognosis in glioma patients based on analysis of expression data from the publicly available database The Cancer Genome Atlas (P < 0.001). Protein levels of COPZ1 were significantly increased in GBM compared to non-neoplastic brain tissue samples in immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. SiRNA knockdown of COPZ1 suppressed proliferation of U87MG, U251 and P3#GBM in vitro. Stable expression of a COPZ1 shRNA construct in U87MG inhibited tumor growth in vivo by ~60% relative to controls at day 21 after implantation (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis of the survival data demonstrated that the overall survival of tumor bearing animals increased from 20.8 days (control) to 27.8 days (knockdown, P < 0.05). COPZ1 knockdown also led to the increase in nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4), resulting in the degradation of ferritin, and a subsequent increase in the intracellular levels of ferrous iron and ultimately ferroptosis. These data demonstrate that COPZ1 is a critical mediator in iron metabolism. The COPZ1/NCOA4/FTH1 axis is therefore a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of human GBM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-020-01622-3
  6. Theranostics. 2021 ;11(3): 1295-1309
    Blocking NHE1 stimulates glioma tumor immunity by restoring OXPHOS function of myeloid cells.
    Md Nabiul Hasan, Lanxin Luo, Dawei Ding, Shanshan Song, Mohammad Iqbal H Bhuiyan, Ruijia Liu, Lesley M Foley, Xiudong Guan, Gary Kohanbash, T Kevin Hitchens, Maria G Castro, Zhongling Zhang, Dandan Sun.
      Background: Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) in glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the contributing factors for failed immunotherapies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to better understand TME and to identify novel modulators of TME for more effective GBM therapies. We hypothesized that H+ extrusion protein Na/H exchanger 1 (NHE1) plays a role in dysregulation of glucose metabolism and immunosuppression of GBM. We investigated the efficacy of blockade of NHE1 activity in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) therapy in increasing anti-tumor immunity. Methods: Mouse syngeneic intracranial glioma model was used to test four treatment regimens: DMSO (Vehicle-control), TMZ, NHE1 specific inhibitor HOE642, or TMZ+HOE642 (T+H) combination. Ex vivo 1H/19Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with cell tracking agent Vsense was performed to monitor the infiltration of glioma-associated microglia/myeloid cells (GAMs). Glucose metabolism and transcriptome profiles were analyzed by Seahorse analyzer and bulk RNA-sequencing. The impact of selective Nhe1 deletion in GAMs on sensitivity to anti-PD-1 therapy was evaluated in transgenic NHE1 knockout (KO) mice. Results: Among the tested treatment regimens, the T+H combination therapy significantly stimulated the infiltration of GAMs and T-cells; up-regulated Th1 activation, and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway genes, increased glucose uptake and mitochondrial mass, and decreased aerobic glycolysis in GAMs. Selective deletion of Nhe1 in Cx3cr1+ Nhe1 KO mice increased anti-tumor immunity and sensitivity to TMZ plus anti-PD-1 combinatorial therapy. Conclusions: NHE1 plays a role in developing glioma immunosuppressive TME in part by dysregulating glucose metabolism of GAMs and emerges as a therapeutic target for improving glioma immunity.
    Keywords:  anti-PD-1 therapy; glycolysis; immunosuppression; temozolomide; tumor-associated microglia/macrophage
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7150/thno.50150
  7. Theranostics. 2021 ;11(2): 665-683
    Glioma stem cells and their roles within the hypoxic tumor microenvironment.
    Nathaniel H Boyd, Anh Nhat Tran, Joshua D Bernstock, Tina Etminan, Amber B Jones, G Yancey Gillespie, Gregory K Friedman, Anita B Hjelmeland.
      Tumor microenvironments are the result of cellular alterations in cancer that support unrestricted growth and proliferation and result in further modifications in cell behavior, which are critical for tumor progression. Angiogenesis and therapeutic resistance are known to be modulated by hypoxia and other tumor microenvironments, such as acidic stress, both of which are core features of the glioblastoma microenvironment. Hypoxia has also been shown to promote a stem-like state in both non-neoplastic and tumor cells. In glial tumors, glioma stem cells (GSCs) are central in tumor growth, angiogenesis, and therapeutic resistance, and further investigation of the interplay between tumor microenvironments and GSCs is critical to the search for better treatment options for glioblastoma. Accordingly, we summarize the impact of hypoxia and acidic stress on GSC signaling and biologic phenotypes, and potential methods to inhibit these pathways.
    Keywords:  acidic stress; cancer stem cells; glioma; hypoxia; tumor microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7150/thno.41692
  8. Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 08. 11(1): 79
    Metabolic changes and anti-tumor effects of a ketogenic diet combined with anti-angiogenic therapy in a glioblastoma mouse model.
    Masahiro Maeyama, Kazuhiro Tanaka, Masamitsu Nishihara, Yasuhiro Irino, Masakazu Shinohara, Hiroaki Nagashima, Hirotomo Tanaka, Satoshi Nakamizo, Mitsuru Hashiguchi, Yuichi Fujita, Masaaki Kohta, Eiji Kohmura, Takashi Sasayama.
      The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high fat and low carbohydrate diet that produces ketone bodies through imitation of starvation. The combination of KD and Bevacizumab (Bev), a VEGF inhibitor, is considered to further reduce the supply of glucose to the tumor. The metabolite changes in U87 glioblastoma mouse models treated with KD and/or Bev were examined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The combination therapy of KD and Bev showed a decrease in the rate of tumor growth and an increase in the survival time of mice, although KD alone did not have survival benefit. In the metabolome analysis, the pattern of changes for most amino acids are similar between tumor and brain tissues, however, some amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid were different between tumors and brain tissues. The KD enhanced the anti-tumor efficacy of Bev in a glioblastoma intracranial implantation mouse model, based on lowest levels of microvascular density (CD31) and cellular proliferation markers (Ki-67 and CCND1) in KD + Bev tumors compared to the other groups. These results suggested that KD combined with Bev may be a useful treatment strategy for patients with GBM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79465-x
  9. Neurooncol Adv. 2020 Jan-Dec;2(1):2(1): vdaa163
    Tumor edge-to-core transition promotes malignancy in primary-to-recurrent glioblastoma progression in a PLAGL1/CD109-mediated mechanism.
    Chaoxi Li, Hee Jin Cho, Daisuke Yamashita, Moaaz Abdelrashid, Qin Chen, Soniya Bastola, Gustavo Chagoya, Galal A Elsayed, Svetlana Komarova, Saya Ozaki, Yoshihiro Ohtsuka, Takeharu Kunieda, Harley I Kornblum, Toru Kondo, Do-Hyun Nam, Ichiro Nakano.
       Background: Glioblastoma remains highly lethal due to its inevitable recurrence. Most of this recurrence is found locally, indicating that postsurgical tumor-initiating cells (TICs) accumulate at the tumor edge. These edge-TICs then generate local recurrence harboring new core lesions. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of the edge-to-core (E-to-C) signature generating glioblastoma recurrence and sought to identify its central mediators.
    Methods: First, we examined the association of E-to-C-related expression changes to patient outcome in matched primary and recurrent samples (n = 37). Specifically, we tested whether the combined decrease of the edge-TIC marker PROM1 (CD133) with the increase of the core-TIC marker CD109, representing E-to-C transition during the primary-to-recurrence progression, indicates poorer patient outcome. We then investigated the specific molecular mediators that trigger tumor recurrence driven by the E-to-C progression. Subsequently, the functional and translational significance of the identified molecule was validated with our patient-derived edge-TIC models in vitro and in vivo.
    Results: Patients exhibiting the CD133low/CD109high signature upon recurrence representing E-to-C transition displayed a strong association with poorer progression-free survival and overall survival among all tested patients. Differential gene expression identified that PLAGL1 was tightly correlated with the core TIC marker CD109 and was linked to shorter patient survival. Experimentally, forced PLAGL1 overexpression enhanced, while its knockdown reduced, glioblastoma edge-derived tumor growth in vivo and subsequent mouse survival, suggesting its essential role in the E-to-C-mediated glioblastoma progression.
    Conclusions: E-to-C axis represents an ongoing lethal process in primary glioblastoma contributing to its recurrence, partly in a PLAGL1/CD109-mediated mechanism.
    Keywords:  cancer stem cell; glioma stem cell; recurrence-initiating cell; spatial identity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/noajnl/vdaa163
  10. Cancer Gene Ther. 2021 Jan 07.
    Inhibition of Gli2 suppresses tumorigenicity in glioblastoma stem cells derived from a de novo murine brain cancer model.
    Seisuke Tanigawa, Mitsugu Fujita, Chiami Moyama, Shota Ando, Hiromi Ii, Yasushi Kojima, Teruaki Fujishita, Masahiro Aoki, Hayato Takeuchi, Takumi Yamanaka, Yoshinobu Takahashi, Naoya Hashimoto, Susumu Nakata.
      The prognosis of glioblastoma remains poor despite intensive research efforts. Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) contribute to tumorigenesis, invasive capacity, and therapy resistance. Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5), a stem cell marker, is involved in the maintenance of GSCs, although the properties of Lgr5-positive GSCs remain unclear. Here, the Sleeping-Beauty transposon-induced glioblastoma model was used in Lgr5-GFP knock-in mice identify GFP-positive cells in neurosphere cultures from mouse glioblastoma tissues. Global gene expression analysis showed that Gli2 was highly expressed in GFP-positive GSCs. Gli2 knockdown using lentiviral-mediated shRNA downregulated Hedgehog-related and Wnt signaling pathway-related genes, including Lgr5; suppressed tumor cell proliferation and invasion capacity; and induced apoptosis. Pharmacological Gli inhibition with GANT61 suppressed tumor cell proliferation. Silencing Gli2 suppressed the tumorigenicity of GSCs in an orthotopic transplantation model in vivo. These findings suggest that Gli2 affects the Hedgehog and Wnt pathways and plays an important role in GSC maintenance, suggesting Gli2 as a therapeutic target for glioblastoma treatment.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41417-020-00282-5
  11. Nat Commun. 2021 01 04. 12(1): 92
    Non-invasive assessment of telomere maintenance mechanisms in brain tumors.
    Pavithra Viswanath, Georgios Batsios, Joydeep Mukherjee, Anne Marie Gillespie, Peder E Z Larson, H Artee Luchman, Joanna J Phillips, Joseph F Costello, Russell O Pieper, Sabrina M Ronen.
      Telomere maintenance is a universal hallmark of cancer. Most tumors including low-grade oligodendrogliomas use telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression for telomere maintenance while astrocytomas use the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway. Although TERT and ALT are hallmarks of tumor proliferation and attractive therapeutic targets, translational methods of imaging TERT and ALT are lacking. Here we show that TERT and ALT are associated with unique 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)-detectable metabolic signatures in genetically-engineered and patient-derived glioma models and patient biopsies. Importantly, we have leveraged this information to mechanistically validate hyperpolarized [1-13C]-alanine flux to pyruvate as an imaging biomarker of ALT status and hyperpolarized [1-13C]-alanine flux to lactate as an imaging biomarker of TERT status in low-grade gliomas. Collectively, we have identified metabolic biomarkers of TERT and ALT status that provide a way of integrating critical oncogenic information into non-invasive imaging modalities that can improve tumor diagnosis and treatment response monitoring.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20312-y
  12. Oncogene. 2021 Jan 08.
    Hypoxia-induced PLOD1 overexpression contributes to the malignant phenotype of glioblastoma via NF-κB signaling.
    Zhenlin Wang, Yuping Shi, Chenting Ying, Yang Jiang, Jiangfeng Hu.
      Procollagen lysyl hydroxylase 1 (PLOD1) is highly expressed in malignant tumors such as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that PLOD1 is associated with the progression of GBM, particularly the most malignant mesenchymal subtype (MES). Moreover, in the TCGA and CGGA datasets, the mean survival time of patients with high PLOD1 expression was significantly shorter than that of patients with low expression. The clinical samples confirmed this result. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of PLOD1 on the development of mesenchymal GBM in vitro and in vivo and its possible mechanisms. Molecular experiments were conducted on the patient-derived glioma stem cells and found that PLOD1 expressed higher in tumor tissues and cancer cell lines of patients with GBM, especially in the MES. PLOD1 also enhanced tumor viability, proliferation, migration, and promoted MES transition while inhibited apoptosis. Tumor xenograft results also indicated that PLOD1 overexpression significantly promotes malignant behavior of tumors. Mechanistically, bioinformatics analysis further revealed that PLOD1 expression was closely associated with the NF-κB signaling pathway. Besides, we also found that hypoxic environments also enhanced the tumor-promoting effects of PLOD1. In conclusion, overexpression of PLOD1 may be an important factor in the enhanced invasiveness and MES transition of GBM. Thus, PLOD1 is a potential treatment target for mesenchymal GBM or even all GBM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-020-01635-y
  13. Neurooncol Adv. 2020 Jan-Dec;2(1):2(1): vdaa157
    Vascular dysfunction promotes regional hypoxia after bevacizumab therapy in recurrent glioblastoma patients.
    Elizabeth R Gerstner, Kyrre E Emblem, Yi-Fen Yen, Jorg Dietrich, Justin T Jordan, Ciprian Catana, Kevin Lou Wenchin, Jacob M Hooker, Dan G Duda, Bruce R Rosen, Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer, Rakesh K Jain, Tracy T Batchelor.
       Background: Hypoxia is a driver of treatment resistance in glioblastoma. Antiangiogenic agents may transiently normalize blood vessels and decrease hypoxia before excessive pruning of vessels increases hypoxia. The time window of normalization is dose and time dependent. We sought to determine how VEGF blockade with bevacizumab modulates tumor vasculature and the impact that those vascular changes have on hypoxia in recurrent glioblastoma patients.
    Methods: We measured tumor volume, vascular permeability (Ktrans), perfusion parameters (cerebral blood flow/volume, vessel caliber, and mean transit time), and regions of hypoxia in patients with recurrent glioblastoma before and after treatment with bevacizumab alone or with lomustine using [18F]FMISO PET-MRI. We also examined serial changes in plasma biomarkers of angiogenesis and inflammation.
    Results: Eleven patients were studied. The magnitude of global tumor hypoxia was variable across these 11 patients prior to treatment and it did not significantly change after bevacizumab. The hypoxic regions had an inefficient vasculature characterized by elevated cerebral blood flow/volume and increased vessel caliber. In a subset of patients, there were tumor subregions with decreased mean transit times and a decrease in hypoxia, suggesting heterogeneous improvement in vascular efficiency. Bevacizumab significantly changed known pharmacodynamic biomarkers such as plasma VEGF and PlGF.
    Conclusions: The vascular signature in hypoxic tumor regions indicates a disorganized vasculature which, in most tumors, does not significantly change after bevacizumab treatment. While some tumor regions showed improved vascular efficiency following treatment, bevacizumab did not globally alter hypoxia or normalize tumor vasculature in glioblastoma.
    Keywords:  antiangiogenic therapy; glioblastoma; hypoxia; vascular normalization
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/noajnl/vdaa157
  14. JCI Insight. 2021 Jan 05. pii: 128456. [Epub ahead of print]
    Defining phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of glioblastoma stem cells by mass cytometry.
    Luciano Galdieri, Arijita Jash, Olga Malkova, Diane D Mao, Patrick A DeSouza, Yunli E Chu, Amber Salter, Jian L Campian, Kristen M Naegle, Cameron W Brennan, Hiroaki Wakimoto, Stephen T Oh, Albert H Kim, Milan G Chheda.
      Most patients with glioblastoma (GBM) die within 2 years. A major therapeutic goal is to target GBM stem cells (GSCs), a subpopulation of cells that contributes to treatment resistance and recurrence. Since their discovery in 2003, GSCs have been isolated using single surface markers, such as CD15, CD44, CD133, and alpha-6 integrin. It remains unknown how these single surface marker-defined GSC populations compare to each other in terms of signaling and function and whether expression of different combinations of these markers is associated with different functional capacity. Using mass cytometry and fresh operating room specimens, we found 15 distinct GSC subpopulations in patients and they differed in their MEK/ERK, WNT, and AKT pathway activation status. Once in culture, some subpopulations were lost, and previously undetectable ones materialized. GSCs that highly expressed all four surface markers had the greatest self-renewal capacity, WNT inhibitor sensitivity, and in vivo tumorigenicity. This work highlights the potential signaling and phenotypic diversity of GSCs. Larger patient sample sizes and antibody panels are required to confirm these findings.
    Keywords:  Cancer; Oncology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.128456
  15. Neuro Oncol. 2021 Jan 04. pii: noaa291. [Epub ahead of print]
    Molecular classification and deconvolution of the immune microenvironment in glioblastoma.
    Matija Snuderl.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noaa291
  16. Cell Death Dis. 2021 Jan 04. 12(1): 14
    MEX3A contributes to development and progression of glioma through regulating cell proliferation and cell migration and targeting CCL2.
    Chao Yang, Haoqiang Zhan, Yiqing Zhao, Yasong Wu, Lisha Li, Heping Wang.
      Glioma is one of the most commonly diagnosed intracranial malignant tumors with extremely high morbidity and mortality, whose treatment was seriously limited because of the unclear molecular mechanism. In this study, in order to identify a novel therapeutic target for glioma treatment, we explored the functions and mechanism of MEX3A in regulating glioma. The immunohistochemical staining of MEX3A in glioma and normal tissues revealed the upregulation of MEX3A and further indicated the relationship between high MEX3A expression and higher malignancy as well as poorer prognosis of glioma. In vitro loss-of-function and gain-of-function experiments comprehensively demonstrated that MEX3A may promote glioma development through regulating cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cell cycle, and cell migration. In vivo experiments also suggested the inhibition of glioma growth by MEX3A knockdown. Moreover, our mechanistic study identifies CCL2 as a potential downstream target of MEX3A, which possesses similar regulatory effects on glioma development with MEX3A and could attenuate the promotion of glioma induced by MEX3A overexpression. Overall, MEX3A was identified as a potential tumor promoter in glioma development and therapeutic target in glioma treatment.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-020-03307-x
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