A t<i>G</i>LI1 activation signature (tGAS) correlated with glioma grade, tumor angiogenesis, and poor overall survival, and GBMs with high tGAS were enriched with mesenchymal GBM/GSC gene signatures.
In order to find new GB/GSC marker candidates that would be cell surface proteins (CSP), we have performed meta-analysis of genome-scale mRNA expression data from three data repositories (GEO, ArrayExpress and GLIOMASdb).
This study discovers a previously unrecognized role of AEG-1 in GSC biology and supports the significance of this gene as a potential therapeutic target for glioblastoma multiforme.
Patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) that are cancer stem-cell-positive (GSC [+]) essentially cannot benefit from anti-angiogenic or anti-invasive therapy.
Glioma stem cells (GSCs) significantly contribute to GBM progression and post-treatment tumor relapse, therefore serving as a key therapeutic target; however, GSCs are resistant to conventional radiation therapy.
Altogether, basic GBM and GSC genetics and proteomics studies combined with strategies to discover GSC-targeting agents could lead to novel treatments that significantly improve patient survival and quality of life.
Together, our findings indicate that EGFR inhibition in GBM induces MET activation in GSCs, which is a functional requisite for GSCs activity and thus represents a promising therapeutic target.
Furthermore, downregulation of LEF1 expression inhibits the self-renewal capacity of U251 GBM stem-like cells and decreases the expression level of the GBM stem-like cell (GSC) markers such as CD133 and nestin.
We found that Nestin (a type VI intermediate filament protein), like the glioma stem cell (GSC) markers CD133 and CD15, exhibited different levels of expression in primary human glioblastoma specimens.
These data suggest that Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a key downstream effector of MET signaling and contributes to the maintenance of GSC and GBM malignancy.
A number of studies suggest that a fraction of tumor cells with stem cell features (Glioma Stem-like Cells, GSC) might be responsible for GBM recurrence and aggressiveness.