We established a gene expression signature of Rb loss-of-function (RBsig) by identifying genes correlated with E2F1 and E2F2 expression in breast cancers within The Cancer Genome Atlas.
The identification of a NAMPT-E2F2-ID axis establishes a link between NAD<sup>+</sup> metabolism and a self-renewal transcriptional program in glioblastoma, with therapeutic implications for this formidable cancer.
By targeted gene knockdown we show the significance of this, demonstrating that cancer cell-matrix adhesion and outgrowth were markedly inhibited when E2F2 levels were reduced.
A previous study has identified hyperexpressed genes in cancer stem cells, among which is E2F2, a gene involved in malignant transformation and stem cell self-renewal.