bims-malgli Biomed News
on Biology of malignant gliomas
Issue of 2021–03–07
sixteen papers selected by
Oltea Sampetrean, Keio University
  1. Tumor Heterogeneity in Glioblastomas: From Light Microscopy to Molecular Pathology.
  2. Are In Vitro Human Blood-Brain-Tumor-Barriers Suitable Replacements for In Vivo Models of Brain Permeability for Novel Therapeutics?
  3. Cancer cell heterogeneity & plasticity in glioblastoma and brain tumors.
  4. Circular RNA-encoded oncogenic E-cadherin variant promotes glioblastoma tumorigenicity through activation of EGFR-STAT3 signalling.
  5. Single-cell analyses reveal YAP/TAZ as regulators of stemness and cell plasticity in Glioblastoma.
  6. Identification and Validation of ERK5 as a DNA Damage Modulating Drug Target in Glioblastoma.
  7. Generation of glioblastoma patient-derived organoids and mouse brain orthotopic xenografts for drug screening.
  8. Proteogenomics of glioblastoma associates molecular patterns with survival.
  9. Early Noninvasive Metabolic Biomarkers of Mutant IDH Inhibition in Glioma.
  10. Pediatric Glioma: An Update of Diagnosis, Biology, and Treatment.
  11. Neuroinflammatory changes of the normal brain tissue in cured mice following combined radiation and anti-PD-1 blockade therapy for glioma.
  12. TERT promoter mutation: is it enough to call a WHO grade II astrocytoma IDH-wildtype glioblastoma?
  13. Pathway-based stratification of glioblastoma.
  14. T cell atlas reveals route to glioma immunotherapy.
  15. A circuitous route to GBM stem cell signalling.
  16. Strategies for delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier.
  1. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 12. pii: 761. [Epub ahead of print]13(4):
    Tumor Heterogeneity in Glioblastomas: From Light Microscopy to Molecular Pathology.
    Aline P Becker, Blake E Sells, S Jaharul Haque, Arnab Chakravarti.
      One of the main reasons for the aggressive behavior of glioblastoma (GBM) is its intrinsic intra-tumor heterogeneity, characterized by the presence of clonal and subclonal differentiated tumor cell populations, glioma stem cells, and components of the tumor microenvironment, which affect multiple hallmark cellular functions in cancer. "Tumor Heterogeneity" usually encompasses both inter-tumor heterogeneity (population-level differences); and intra-tumor heterogeneity (differences within individual tumors). Tumor heterogeneity may be assessed in a single time point (spatial heterogeneity) or along the clinical evolution of GBM (longitudinal heterogeneity). Molecular methods may detect clonal and subclonal alterations to describe tumor evolution, even when samples from multiple areas are collected in the same time point (spatial-temporal heterogeneity). In GBM, although the inter-tumor mutational landscape is relatively homogeneous, intra-tumor heterogeneity is a striking feature of this tumor. In this review, we will address briefly the inter-tumor heterogeneity of the CNS tumors that yielded the current glioma classification. Next, we will take a deeper dive in the intra-tumor heterogeneity of GBMs, which directly affects prognosis and response to treatment. Our approach aims to follow technological developments, allowing for characterization of intra-tumor heterogeneity, beginning with differences on histomorphology of GBM and ending with molecular alterations observed at single-cell level.
    Keywords:  glioblastoma; glioma; neoplastic stem cells; precision medicine; prognosis; review; tumor heterogeneity; tumor microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13040761
  2. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 25. pii: 955. [Epub ahead of print]13(5):
    Are In Vitro Human Blood-Brain-Tumor-Barriers Suitable Replacements for In Vivo Models of Brain Permeability for Novel Therapeutics?
    Archana Prashanth, Heather Donaghy, Shihani P Stoner, Amanda L Hudson, Helen R Wheeler, Connie I Diakos, Viive M Howell, Georges E Grau, Kelly J McKelvey.
       BACKGROUND: High grade gliomas (HGG) are incapacitating and prematurely fatal diseases. To overcome the poor prognosis, novel therapies must overcome the selective and restricted permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This study critically evaluated whether in vitro human normal BBB and tumor BBB (BBTB) are suitable alternatives to "gold standard" in vivo models to determine brain permeability.
    METHODS: A systematic review utilizing the PRISMA guidelines used English and full-text articles from the past 5 years in the PubMed, Embase, Medline and Scopus databases. Experimental studies employing human cell lines were included.
    RESULTS: Of 1335 articles, the search identified 24 articles for evaluation after duplicates were removed. Eight in vitro and five in vivo models were identified with the advantages and disadvantages compared within and between models, and against patient clinical data where available. The greatest in vitro barrier integrity and stability, comparable to in vivo and clinical permeability data, were achieved in the presence of all cell types of the neurovascular unit: endothelial cells, astrocytes/glioma cells, pericytes and neurons.
    CONCLUSIONS: In vitro co-culture BBB models utilizing stem cell-derived or primary cells are a suitable proxy for brain permeability studies in order to reduce animal use in medical research.
    Keywords:  blood brain barrier; brain cancer; brain microvascular endothelial cells; diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma; glioblastoma; induced pluripotent stem cells; neurovascular unit; permeability; tight junctions; transendothelial electrical resistance
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13050955
  3. Semin Cancer Biol. 2021 Feb 25. pii: S1044-579X(21)00049-3. [Epub ahead of print]
    Cancer cell heterogeneity & plasticity in glioblastoma and brain tumors.
    Adam Lauko, Alice Lo, Manmeet S Ahluwalia, Justin D Lathia.
      Brain tumors remain one of the most difficult tumors to treat and, depending on the histology, have a poor prognosis. Of brain tumors, glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant glioma and has a dismal prognosis, with only about 5% of patients alive five years after diagnosis. While advances in targeted therapies and immunotherapies are rapidly improving outcomes in a variety of other cancers, the standard of care for GBM has largely remained unaltered since 2005. There are many well-studied challenges that are either unique to brain tumors (i.e., blood-brain barrier and immunosuppressive environment) or amplified within GBM (i.e., tumor heterogeneity at the cellular and molecular levels, plasticity, and cancer stem cells) that make this disease particularly difficult to treat. While we touch on all these concepts, the focus of this review is to discuss the immense inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity and advances in our understanding of tumor cell plasticity and epigenetics in GBM. With each improvement in technology, our understanding of the complexity of tumoral heterogeneity and plasticity improves and we gain more clarity on the causes underlying previous therapeutic failures. However, these advances are unlocking new therapeutic opportunities that scientists and physicians are currently exploiting and have the potential for new breakthroughs.
    Keywords:  Epigenetics; Glioblastoma; Heterogeneity; Plasticity; Tumor Microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.02.014
  4. Nat Cell Biol. 2021 Mar 04.
    Circular RNA-encoded oncogenic E-cadherin variant promotes glioblastoma tumorigenicity through activation of EGFR-STAT3 signalling.
    Xinya Gao, Xin Xia, Fanying Li, Maolei Zhang, Huangkai Zhou, Xujia Wu, Jian Zhong, Zheng Zhao, Kun Zhao, Dawei Liu, Feizhe Xiao, Qiang Xu, Tao Jiang, Bo Li, Shi-Yuan Cheng, Nu Zhang.
      Activated EGFR signalling drives tumorigenicity in 50% of glioblastoma (GBM). However, EGFR-targeting therapy has proven ineffective in treating patients with GBM, indicating that there is redundant EGFR activation. Circular RNAs are covalently closed RNA transcripts that are involved in various physiological and pathological processes. Herein, we report an additional activation mechanism of EGFR signalling in GBM by an undescribed secretory E-cadherin protein variant (C-E-Cad) encoded by a circular E-cadherin (circ-E-Cad) RNA through multiple-round open reading frame translation. C-E-Cad is overexpressed in GBM and promotes glioma stem cell tumorigenicity. C-E-Cad activates EGFR independent of EGF through association with the EGFR CR2 domain using a unique 14-amino-acid carboxy terminus, thereby maintaining glioma stem cell tumorigenicity. Notably, inhibition of C-E-Cad markedly enhances the antitumour activity of therapeutic anti-EGFR strategies in GBM. Our results uncover a critical role of C-E-Cad in stimulating EGFR signalling and provide a promising approach for treating EGFR-driven GBM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-021-00639-4
  5. Nat Cancer. 2021 Feb;2(2): 174-188
    Single-cell analyses reveal YAP/TAZ as regulators of stemness and cell plasticity in Glioblastoma.
    Martina Castellan, Alberto Guarnieri, Atsushi Fujimura, Francesca Zanconato, Giusy Battilana, Tito Panciera, Hanna Lucie Sladitschek, Paolo Contessotto, Anna Citron, Andrea Grilli, Oriana Romano, Silvio Bicciato, Matteo Fassan, Elena Porcù, Antonio Rosato, Michelangelo Cordenonsi, Stefano Piccolo.
      Glioblastoma (GBM) is a devastating human malignancy. GBM stem-like cells (GSCs) drive tumor initiation and progression. Yet, the molecular determinants defining GSCs in their native state in patients remain poorly understood. Here we used single cell datasets and identified GSCs at the apex of the differentiation hierarchy of GBM. By reconstructing the GSCs' regulatory network, we identified the YAP/TAZ coactivators as master regulators of this cell state, irrespectively of GBM subtypes. YAP/TAZ are required to install GSC properties in primary cells downstream of multiple oncogenic lesions, and required for tumor initiation and maintenance in vivo in different mouse and human GBM models. YAP/TAZ act as main roadblock of GSC differentiation and their inhibition irreversibly lock differentiated GBM cells into a non-tumorigenic state, preventing plasticity and regeneration of GSC-like cells. Thus, GSC identity is linked to a key molecular hub integrating genetics and microenvironmental inputs within the multifaceted biology of GBM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-020-00150-z
  6. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 24. pii: 944. [Epub ahead of print]13(5):
    Identification and Validation of ERK5 as a DNA Damage Modulating Drug Target in Glioblastoma.
    Natasha Carmell, Ola Rominiyi, Katie N Myers, Connor McGarrity-Cottrell, Aurelie Vanderlinden, Nikita Lad, Eva Perroux-David, Sherif F El-Khamisy, Malee Fernando, Katherine G Finegan, Stephen Brown, Spencer J Collis.
      Brain tumours kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer, with approximately half of primary brain tumours being diagnosed as high-grade malignancies known as glioblastomas. Despite de-bulking surgery combined with chemo-/radiotherapy regimens, the mean survival for these patients is only around 15 months, with less than 10% surviving over 5 years. This dismal prognosis highlights the urgent need to develop novel agents to improve the treatment of these tumours. To address this need, we carried out a human kinome siRNA screen to identify potential drug targets that augment the effectiveness of temozolomide (TMZ)-the standard-of-care chemotherapeutic agent used to treat glioblastoma. From this we identified ERK5/MAPK7, which we subsequently validated using a range of siRNA and small molecule inhibitors within a panel of glioma cells. Mechanistically, we find that ERK5 promotes efficient repair of TMZ-induced DNA lesions to confer cell survival and clonogenic capacity. Finally, using several glioblastoma patient cohorts we provide target validation data for ERK5 as a novel drug target, revealing that heightened ERK5 expression at both the mRNA and protein level is associated with increased tumour grade and poorer patient survival. Collectively, these findings provide a foundation to develop clinically effective ERK5 targeting strategies in glioblastomas and establish much-needed enhancement of the therapeutic repertoire used to treat this currently incurable disease.
    Keywords:  DNA damage; ERK5; MAPK7; glioblastoma; sensitisation; temozolomide
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13050944
  7. STAR Protoc. 2021 Mar 19. 2(1): 100345
    Generation of glioblastoma patient-derived organoids and mouse brain orthotopic xenografts for drug screening.
    Christian Moya Gamboa, Kelly Jara, Sahithi Pamarthy, Liqiong Liu, Robert Aiken, Zhenggang Xiong, Shabbar Danish, Hatem E Sabaawy.
      Robust patient-derived platforms that recapitulate the cellular and molecular fingerprints of glioblastoma are crucial for developing effective therapies. Here, we describe a chemically defined protocol for 3D culture and propagation of glioblastoma in 3D gliospheres, patient-derived organoids (PDOs), mouse brain orthotopic xenografts (PDOXs), and downstream drug and immunofluorescence assays. This simple-to-follow protocol allows assessing drug sensitivity, on-target activity, and combined drug synergy. Promising therapies can then be validated in PDOXs for translation in precision medicine oncology trials. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chadwick et al. (2020) and Patrizii et al. (2018).
    Keywords:  Organoids; PDX; combination therapy; drug synergy; glioblastoma; o; orthotopic patient derived xenografts; patient derived organoids; precision medicine
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100345
  8. Cell Rep. 2021 Mar 02. pii: S2211-1247(21)00101-7. [Epub ahead of print]34(9): 108787
    Proteogenomics of glioblastoma associates molecular patterns with survival.
    Gali Yanovich-Arad, Paula Ofek, Eilam Yeini, Mariya Mardamshina, Artem Danilevsky, Noam Shomron, Rachel Grossman, Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, Tamar Geiger.
      Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive form of glioma, with poor prognosis exhibited by most patients, and a median survival time of less than 2 years. We assemble a cohort of 87 GBM patients whose survival ranges from less than 3 months and up to 10 years and perform both high-resolution mass spectrometry proteomics and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Integrative analysis of protein expression, RNA expression, and patient clinical information enables us to identify specific immune, metabolic, and developmental processes associated with survival as well as determine whether they are shared between expression layers or are layer specific. Our analyses reveal a stronger association between proteomic profiles and survival and identify unique protein-based classification, distinct from the established RNA-based classification. By integrating published single-cell RNA-seq data, we find a connection between subpopulations of GBM tumors and survival. Overall, our findings establish proteomic heterogeneity in GBM as a gateway to understanding poor survival.
    Keywords:  RNA-sequencing; cancer heterogeneity; glioblastoma; mass spectrometry; proteogenomics; proteomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108787
  9. Metabolites. 2021 Feb 13. pii: 109. [Epub ahead of print]11(2):
    Early Noninvasive Metabolic Biomarkers of Mutant IDH Inhibition in Glioma.
    Marina Radoul, Donghyun Hong, Anne Marie Gillespie, Chloé Najac, Pavithra Viswanath, Russell O Pieper, Joseph F Costello, Hema Artee Luchman, Sabrina M Ronen.
      Approximately 80% of low-grade glioma (LGGs) harbor mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1/2 (IDH1/2) driver mutations leading to accumulation of the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG). Thus, inhibition of mutant IDH is considered a potential therapeutic target. Several mutant IDH inhibitors are currently in clinical trials, including AG-881 and BAY-1436032. However, to date, early detection of response remains a challenge. In this study we used high resolution 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to identify early noninvasive MR (Magnetic Resonance)-detectable metabolic biomarkers of response to mutant IDH inhibition. In vivo 1H-MRS was performed on mice orthotopically-implanted with either genetically engineered (U87IDHmut) or patient-derived (BT257 and SF10417) mutant IDH1 cells. Treatment with either AG-881 or BAY-1436032 induced a significant reduction in 2-HG. Moreover, both inhibitors led to a significant early and sustained increase in glutamate and the sum of glutamate and glutamine (GLX) in all three models. A transient early increase in N-acetylaspartate (NAA) was also observed. Importantly, all models demonstrated enhanced animal survival following both treatments and the metabolic alterations were observed prior to any detectable differences in tumor volume between control and treated tumors. Our study therefore identifies potential translatable early metabolic biomarkers of drug delivery, mutant IDH inhibition and glioma response to treatment with emerging clinically relevant therapies.
    Keywords:  1H-MRS; glioma; mutant IDH inhibitor; noninvasive metabolic biomarkers
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo11020109
  10. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 12. pii: 758. [Epub ahead of print]13(4):
    Pediatric Glioma: An Update of Diagnosis, Biology, and Treatment.
    Yusuke Funakoshi, Nobuhiro Hata, Daisuke Kuga, Ryusuke Hatae, Yuhei Sangatsuda, Yutaka Fujioka, Kosuke Takigawa, Masahiro Mizoguchi.
      Recent research has promoted elucidation of the diverse biological processes that occur in pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Molecular genetic analysis is essential not only for proper classification, but also for monitoring biological behavior and clinical management of tumors. Ever since the 2016 World Health Organization classification of CNS tumors, molecular profiling has become an indispensable step in the diagnosis, prediction of prognosis, and treatment of pediatric as well as adult CNS tumors. These molecular data are changing diagnosis, leading to new guidelines, and offering novel molecular targeted therapies. The Consortium to Inform Molecular and Practical Approaches to CNS Tumor Taxonomy (cIMPACT-NOW) makes practical recommendations using recent advances in CNS tumor classification, particularly in molecular discernment of these neoplasms as morphology-based classification of tumors is being replaced by molecular-based classification. In this article, we summarize recent knowledge to provide an overview of pediatric gliomas, which are major pediatric CNS tumors, and describe recent developments in strategies employed for their diagnosis and treatment.
    Keywords:  cIMPACT-NOW; molecular profiling; molecular targeted therapy; next-generation sequencing; pediatric glioma
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13040758
  11. Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 03. 11(1): 5057
    Neuroinflammatory changes of the normal brain tissue in cured mice following combined radiation and anti-PD-1 blockade therapy for glioma.
    Mariano Guardia Clausi, Alexander M Stessin, Zirun Zhao, Stella E Tsirka, Samuel Ryu.
      The efficacy of combining radiation therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitor blockade to treat brain tumors is currently the subject of multiple investigations and holds significant therapeutic promise. However, the long-term effects of this combination therapy on the normal brain tissue are unknown. Here, we examined mice that were intracranially implanted with murine glioma cell line and became long-term survivors after treatment with a combination of 10 Gy cranial irradiation (RT) and anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade (aPD-1). Post-mortem analysis of the cerebral hemisphere contralateral to tumor implantation showed complete abolishment of hippocampal neurogenesis, but neural stem cells were well preserved in subventricular zone. In addition, we observed a drastic reduction in the number of mature oligodendrocytes in the subcortical white matter. Importantly, this observation was evident specifically in the combined (RT + aPD-1) treatment group but not in the single treatment arm of either RT alone or aPD-1 alone. Elimination of microglia with a small molecule inhibitor of colony stimulated factor-1 receptor (PLX5622) prevented the loss of mature oligodendrocytes. These results identify for the first time a unique pattern of normal tissue changes in the brain secondary to combination treatment with radiotherapy and immunotherapy. The results also suggest a role for microglia as key mediators of the adverse treatment effect.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84600-3
  12. Neuro Oncol. 2021 Feb 28. pii: noab052. [Epub ahead of print]
    TERT promoter mutation: is it enough to call a WHO grade II astrocytoma IDH-wildtype glioblastoma?
    Caterina Giannini, Felice Giangaspero.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noab052
  13. Nat Rev Neurol. 2021 Mar 02.
    Pathway-based stratification of glioblastoma.
    Tobias Weiss, Michael Weller.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-021-00474-z
  14. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2021 Mar 02.
    T cell atlas reveals route to glioma immunotherapy.
    Sarah Crunkhorn.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-021-00038-2
  15. Nat Cell Biol. 2021 Mar 04.
    A circuitous route to GBM stem cell signalling.
    Kelly Mitchell, Justin D Lathia.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-021-00643-8
  16. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2021 Mar 01.
    Strategies for delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier.
    Georg C Terstappen, Axel H Meyer, Robert D Bell, Wandong Zhang.
      Achieving sufficient delivery across the blood-brain barrier is a key challenge in the development of drugs to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders. This is particularly the case for biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies and enzyme replacement therapies, which are largely excluded from the brain following systemic administration. In recent years, increasing research efforts by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions and public-private consortia have resulted in the evaluation of various technologies developed to deliver therapeutics to the CNS, some of which have entered clinical testing. Here we review recent developments and challenges related to selected blood-brain barrier-crossing strategies - with a focus on non-invasive approaches such as receptor-mediated transcytosis and the use of neurotropic viruses, nanoparticles and exosomes - and analyse their potential in the treatment of CNS disorders.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-021-00139-y
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