bims-malgli 2024-07-07 papers

Issue of 2024–07–07
four papers selected by
Oltea Sampetrean, Keio University

Pathol Res Pract. 2024 Jun 28. pii: S0344-0338(24)00349-2. [Epub ahead of print]260 155438

CENPA facilitates glioma stem cell stemness and suppress ferroptosis to accelerate glioblastoma multiforme progression by promoting GBP2 transcription.

Chuankun Li, Jiangpeng Jing, Yuan Wang, Haitao Jiang.

The function of glioma stem cells (GSCs) is closely related to the progression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Centromere protein A (CENPA) has been confirmed to be related to the poor prognosis of GBM patients. However, whether CENPA regulates GSCs function to mediate GBM progression is still unclear. GSCs were isolated from GBM cells. The expression of CENPA and guanylate-binding protein 2 (GBP2) was examined by quantitative real-time PCR and western blot. GSCs proliferation and stemness were assessed using EdU assay and sphere formation assay. Cell ferroptosis was evaluated by detecting related factors. The interaction between CENPA and GBP2 was analyzed by ChIP assay and dual-luciferase reporter assay. Animal experiments were conducted to measure the effect of CENPA knockdown on the tumorigenicity of GSCs in vivo. CENPA was upregulated in GBM tissues and GSCs. CENPA knockdown inhibited GSCs proliferation, stemnness, and promoted ferroptosis. GBP2 was overexpressed in GBM tissues and GSCs, and CENPA enhanced GBP2 transcription by binding to its promoter region. CENPA overexpression accelerated GSCs proliferation and stemnness and suppressed ferroptosis, while GBP2 knockdown reversed these effects. Downregulation of CENPA reduced the tumorigenicity of GSCs by decreasing GBP2 expression in vivo. In conclusion, CENPA enhanced GBP2 transcription to increase its expression, thus accelerating GSCs proliferation and stemnness and repressing ferroptosis. Our findings promote a new idea for GBM treatment.

Keywords: CENPA; GBP2; Glioblastoma multiforme; Glioma stem cells

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prp.2024.155438

Sci Rep. 2024 06 28. 14(1): 14975

Prognostic relevance of high expression of kynurenine pathway markers in glioblastoma.

Arnaud Jacquerie, Ann Hoeben, Daniëlle B P Eekers, Alida A Postma, Maxime Vanmechelen, Frederik de Smet, Linda Ackermans, Monique Anten, Kim Severens, Axel Zur Hausen, Martinus P G Broen, Jan Beckervordersandforth.

Glioblastoma (GBM) continues to exhibit a discouraging survival rate despite extensive research into new treatments. One factor contributing to its poor prognosis is the tumor's immunosuppressive microenvironment, in which the kynurenine pathway (KP) plays a significant role. This study aimed to explore how KP impacts the survival of newly diagnosed GBM patients. We examined tissue samples from 108 GBM patients to assess the expression levels of key KP markers-tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO2), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1/2), and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Using immunohistochemistry and QuPath software, three tumor cores were analyzed per patient to evaluate KP marker expression. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and stepwise multivariate Cox regression were used to determine the effect of these markers on patient survival. Results showed that patients with high expression of TDO2, IDO1/2, and AhR had significantly shorter survival times. This finding held true even when controlling for other known prognostic variables, with a hazard ratio of 3.393 for IDO1, 2.775 for IDO2, 1.891 for TDO2, and 1.902 for AhR. We suggest that KP markers could serve as useful tools for patient stratification, potentially guiding future immunomodulating trials and personalized treatment approaches for GBM patients.

Keywords: AhR; Glioblastoma; IDO; Kynurenine; Prognosis; TDO2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-65907-3

Neuro Oncol. 2024 Jun 29. pii: noae102. [Epub ahead of print]

The IDH paradox: Meta-analysis of alkylating chemotherapy in IDH-wildtype and -mutant lower grade gliomas.

Connor J Kinslow, Soumyajit Roy, Fabio M Iwamoto, Paul D Brown, David M DeStephano, Peter D Canoll, Summer S Qureshi, Matthew Gallito, Michael B Sisti, Jeffrey N Bruce, David P Horowitz, Lisa A Kachnic, Alfred I Neugut, James B Yu, Minesh P Mehta, Simon K Cheng, Tony J C Wang.

BACKGROUND: IDH-wildtype (-wt) status is a pre-requisite for the diagnosis of glioblastoma (GBM); however, IDH-wt gliomas with low grade or anaplastic morphology have historically been excluded from GBM trials and may represent a distinct prognostic entity. While alkylating agent chemotherapy improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for IDH-wt GBM and also IDH-mutant gliomas, irrespective of grade, the benefit for IDH-wt diffuse histologic lower grade gliomas is unclear.
METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials for World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2-3 gliomas (2009 to present) to determine the effect of alkylating chemotherapy on IDH-wt and -mutant gliomas using a random-effects model with inverse-variance pooling.
RESULTS: We identified six trials with 1,204 patients (430 IDH-wt, 774 IDH-mutant) that evaluated alkylating chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone, allowing us to perform an analysis focused on the value of adding alkylating chemotherapy to radiotherapy. For patients with IDH-wt tumors, alkylating chemotherapy added to radiotherapy was associated with improved PFS (HR:0.77 [95%CI 0.62-0.97], P=.03) but not OS (HR:0.87 [95%CI 0.64-1.18], P=.17). For patients with IDH-mutant tumors, alkylating chemotherapy added to radiotherapy improved both OS (HR:0.52 [95%CI 0.42-0.64], P<.001) and PFS (HR=0.47 [95%CI 0.39-0.57], P<.001) compared to radiotherapy alone. The magnitude of benefit was similar for IDH-mutant gliomas with or without 1p19q-codeletion.
CONCLUSIONS: Alkylating chemotherapy reduces mortality by 48% and progression by 53% for patients with IDH-mutant gliomas. Optimal management of IDH-wt diffuse histologic lower grade gliomas remains to be determined, as there is little evidence supporting an OS benefit from alkylating chemotherapy.

Keywords: alkylating chemotherapy; glioma; isocitrate-dehydrogenase; meta-analysis; radiotherapy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noae102

Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2024 Jul 02. 73(9): 178

TRP-2 / gp100 DNA vaccine and PD-1 checkpoint blockade combination for the treatment of intracranial tumors.

Joshua R D Pearson, Carles Puig-Saenz, Jubini E Thomas, Lydia D Hardowar, Murrium Ahmad, Louise C Wainwright, Adam M McVicar, Victoria A Brentville, Chris J Tinsley, A Graham Pockley, Lindy G Durrant, Stephanie E B McArdle.

Intracranial tumors present a significant therapeutic challenge due to their physiological location. Immunotherapy presents an attractive method for targeting these intracranial tumors due to relatively low toxicity and tumor specificity. Here we show that SCIB1, a TRP-2 and gp100 directed ImmunoBody® DNA vaccine, generates a strong TRP-2 specific immune response, as demonstrated by the high number of TRP2-specific IFNγ spots produced and the detection of a significant number of pentamer positive T cells in the spleen of vaccinated mice. Furthermore, vaccine-induced T cells were able to recognize and kill B16HHDII/DR1 cells after a short in vitro culture. Having found that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) expresses significant levels of PD-L1 and IDO1, with PD-L1 correlating with poorer survival in patients with the mesenchymal subtype of GBM, we decided to combine SCIB1 ImmunoBody® with PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade to treat mice harboring intracranial tumors expressing TRP-2 and gp100. Time-to-death was significantly prolonged, and this correlated with increased CD4+ and CD8+ T cell infiltration in the tissue microenvironment (TME). However, in addition to PD-L1 and IDO, the GBM TME was found to contain a significant number of immunoregulatory T (Treg) cell-associated transcripts, and the presence of such cells is likely to significantly affect clinical outcome unless also tackled.

Keywords: Brain tumor; Cancer vaccine; Glioblastoma multiforme; Immune checkpoint blockade; PD-1; TRP-2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-024-03770-x