CD146 increases stemness and aggressiveness in glioblastoma and activates YAP signaling

CD146, a therapeutic target involved in cell plasticity

Since its identification as a marker for advanced melanoma in the 1980s, CD146 has been found to have multiple functions in both physiological and pathological processes, including embryonic development, tissue repair and regeneration, tumor progression, fibrosis disease, and inflammations. Subsequent research has revealed that CD146 is involved in various signaling pathways as a receptor or co-receptor in these processes. This correlation between CD146 and multiple diseases has sparked interest in its potential applications in diagnosis, prognosis, and targeted therapy. To better comprehend the versatile roles of CD146, we have summarized its research history and synthesized findings from numerous reports, proposing that cell plasticity serves as the underlying mechanism through which CD146 contributes to development, regeneration, and various diseases. Targeting CD146 would consequently halt cell state shifting during the onset and progression of these related diseases. Therefore, the development of therapy targeting CD146 holds significant practical value.

Comprehensive understanding of glioblastoma molecular phenotypes: classification, characteristics, and transition

Among central nervous system-associated malignancies, glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and has the highest mortality rate. The high heterogeneity of GBM cell types and the complex tumor microenvironment frequently lead to tumor recurrence and sudden relapse in patients treated with temozolomide. In precision medicine, research on GBM treatment is increasingly focusing on molecular subtyping to precisely characterize the cellular and molecular heterogeneity, as well as the refractory nature of GBM toward therapy. Deep understanding of the different molecular expression patterns of GBM subtypes is critical. Researchers have recently proposed tetra fractional or tripartite methods for detecting GBM molecular subtypes. The various molecular subtypes of GBM show significant differences in gene expression patterns and biological behaviors. These subtypes also exhibit high plasticity in their regulatory pathways, oncogene expression, tumor microenvironment alterations, and differential responses to standard therapy. Herein, we summarize the current molecular typing scheme of GBM and the major molecular/genetic characteristics of each subtype. Furthermore, we review the mesenchymal transition mechanisms of GBM under various regulators.

NPS-2143 inhibit glioma progression by suppressing autophagy through mediating AKT-mTOR pathway

Gliomas are the most common tumours in the central nervous system. In the present study, we aimed to find a promising anti-glioma compound and investigate the underlying molecular mechanism. Glioma cells were subjected to the 50 candidate compounds at a final concentration of 10 μM for 72 h, and CCK-8 was used to evaluate their cytotoxicity. NPS-2143, an antagonist of calcium-sensing receptor (CASR), was selected for further study due to its potent cytotoxicity to glioma cells. Our results showed that NPS-2143 could inhibit the proliferation of glioma cells and induce G1 phase cell cycle arrest. Meanwhile, NPS-2143 could induce glioma cell apoptosis by increasing the caspase-3/6/9 activity. NPS-2143 impaired the immigration and invasion ability of glioma cells by regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process. Mechanically, NPS-2143 could inhibit autophagy by mediating the AKT-mTOR pathway. Bioinformatic analysis showed that the prognosis of glioma patients with low expression of CASR mRNA was better than those with high expression of CASR mRNA. Gene set enrichment analysis showed that CASR was associated with cell adhesion molecules and lysosomes in glioma. The nude mice xenograft model showed NPS-2143 could suppress glioma growth in vivo. In conclusion, NPS-2143 can suppress the glioma progression by inhibiting autophagy.

Glioblastoma research on zebrafish xenograft models: a systematic review

Glioblastoma (GBM) constitutes the most common primary brain tumor in adults. The challenges in GBM therapeutics have shed light on zebrafish used as a promising animal model for preclinical GBM xenograft studies without a standardized methodology. This systematic review aims to summarize the advances in zebrafish GBM xenografting, compare research protocols to pinpoint advantages and underlying limitations, and designate the predominant xenografting parameters. Based on the PRISMA checklist, we systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, and ZFIN using the keywords "glioblastoma," "xenotransplantation," and "zebrafish" for papers published from 2005 to 2022, available in English. 46 articles meeting the review criteria were examined for the zebrafish strain, cancer cell line, cell labeling technique, injected cell number, time and site of injection, and maintenance temperature. Our review designated that AB wild-type zebrafish, Casper transparent mutants, transgenic Tg(fli1:EGFP), or crossbreeding of these predominate among the zebrafish strains. Orthotopic transplantation is more commonly employed. A number of 50-100 cells injected at 48 h post-fertilization in high density and low infusion volume is considered as an effective xenografting approach. U87 cells are used for GBM angiogenesis studies, U251 for GBM proliferation studies, and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) to achieve clinical relevance. Gradual acclimatization to 32-33 °C can partly address the temperature differential between the zebrafish and the GBM cells. Zebrafish xenograft models constitute valuable tools for preclinical studies with clinical relevance regarding PDX. The GBM xenografting research requires modification based on the objective of each research team. Automation and further optimization of the protocol parameters could scale up the anticancer drug trials.

The Recent Research Progress of NF-κB Signaling on the Proliferation, Migration, Invasion, Immune Escape and Drug Resistance of Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and invasive primary central nervous system tumor in humans, accounting for approximately 45-50% of all primary brain tumors. How to conduct early diagnosis, targeted intervention, and prognostic evaluation of GBM, in order to improve the survival rate of glioblastoma patients, has always been an urgent clinical problem to be solved. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the occurrence and development of GBM is also needed. Like many other cancers, NF-κB signaling plays a crucial role in tumor growth and therapeutic resistance in GBM. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the high activity of NF-κB in GBM remains to be elucidated. This review aims to identify and summarize the NF-κB signaling involved in the recent pathogenesis of GBM, as well as basic therapy for GBM via NF-κB signaling.

Increasing cell culture density during a developmental window prevents fated rod precursors derailment toward hybrid rod-glia cells

In proliferating multipotent retinal progenitors, transcription factors dynamics set the fate of postmitotic daughter cells, but postmitotic cell fate plasticity driven by extrinsic factors remains controversial. Transcriptome analysis reveals the concurrent expression by postmitotic rod precursors of genes critical for the Müller glia cell fate, which are rarely generated from terminally-dividing progenitors as a pair with rod precursors. By combining gene expression and functional characterisation in single cultured rod precursors, we identified a time-restricted window where increasing cell culture density switches off the expression of genes critical for Müller glial cells. Intriguingly, rod precursors in low cell culture density maintain the expression of genes of rod and glial cell fate and develop a mixed rod/Muller glial cells electrophysiological fingerprint, revealing rods derailment toward a hybrid rod-glial phenotype. The notion of cell culture density as an extrinsic factor critical for preventing rod-fated cells diversion toward a hybrid cell state may explain the occurrence of hybrid rod/MG cells in the adult retina and provide a strategy to improve engraftment yield in regenerative approaches to retinal degenerative disease by stabilising the fate of grafted rod precursors.

Advances in antibody-based drugs and their delivery through the blood-brain barrier for targeted therapy and immunotherapy of gliomas

Gliomas are highly invasive and are the most common type of primary malignant brain tumor. The routine treatments for glioma include surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, glioma recurrence and patient survival remain unsatisfactory after employing these traditional treatment approaches. With the rapid development of molecular immunology, significant breakthroughs have been made in targeted glioma therapy and immunotherapy. Antibody-based therapy has excellent advantages in treating gliomas due to its high specificity and sensitivity. This article reviewed various targeted antibody drugs for gliomas, including anti-glioma surface marker antibodies, anti-angiogenesis antibodies, and anti-immunosuppressive signal antibodies. Notably, many antibodies have been validated clinically, such as bevacizumab, cetuximab, panitumumab, and anti-PD-1 antibodies. These antibodies can improve the targeting of glioma therapy, enhance anti-tumor immunity, reduce the proliferation and invasion of glioma, and thus prolong the survival time of patients. However, the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) has caused significant difficulties in drug delivery for gliomas. Therefore, this paper also summarized drug delivery methods through the BBB, including receptor-mediated transportation, nano-based carriers, and some physical and chemical methods for drug delivery. With these exciting advancements, more antibody-based therapies will likely enter clinical practice and allow more successful control of malignant gliomas.

LINC01798/miR-17-5p axis regulates ITGA8 and causes changes in tumor microenvironment and stemness in lung adenocarcinoma

Integrins are closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors. ITGA8 encodes the alpha 8 subunit of the heterodimeric integrin alpha8beta1. Studies on the role of this gene in the occurrence and development of lung cancer are scarce. The examination of public databases revealed that ITGA8 expression was significantly lower in tumor tissue than that in normal tissue, especially in lung cancer, renal carcinoma, and prostate cancer. Survival analysis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma revealed that higher ITGA8 expression had better prognosis. ITGA8 was positively related to immune checkpoints and immunomodulators, whereas B cell, CD4+ T cell, CD8+ T cell, neutrophil, macrophage, and dendritic cell infiltration had the same correlation. Moreover, ITGA8 was negatively related to cancer stemness. We used an online database to predict the miRNAs and lncRNAs that regulate ITGA8 and obtained the regulatory network of ITGA8 through correlation analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR and western blot analyses showed that LINC01798 regulates ITGA8 expression through miR-17-5p. Therefore, the regulatory network of ITGA8 may serve as a new therapeutic target to improve the prognosis of patients with lung cancer.

Signaling pathways governing glioma cancer stem cells behavior

Glioma is the most common malignant brain tumor that develops in the glial tissue. Several studies have identified that glioma cancer stem cells (GCSCs) play important roles in tumor-initiating features in malignant gliomas. GCSCs are a small population in the brain that presents an essential role in the metastasis of glioma cells to other organs. These cells can self-renew and differentiate, which are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of glioma. Therefore, targeting GCSCs might be a novel strategy for the treatment of glioma. Accumulating evidence revealed that several signaling pathways, including Notch, TGF-β, Wnt, STAT3, AKT, and EGFR mediated GCSC growth, proliferation, migration, and invasion. Besides, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including miRNAs, circular RNAs, and long ncRNAs have been found to play pivotal roles in the regulation of GCSC pathogenesis and drug resistance. Therefore, targeting these pathways could open a new avenue for glioma management. In this review, we summarized critical signaling pathways involved in the stimulation or prevention of GCSCs tumorigenesis and invasiveness.

Anoikis resistance in diffuse glioma: The potential therapeutic targets in the future

Glioma is the most common malignant intracranial tumor and exhibits diffuse metastasis and a high recurrence rate. The invasive property of glioma results from cell detachment. Anoikis is a special form of apoptosis that is activated upon cell detachment. Resistance to anoikis has proven to be a protumor factor. Therefore, it is suggested that anoikis resistance commonly occurs in glioma and promotes diffuse invasion. Several factors, such as integrin, E-cadherin, EGFR, IGFR, Trk, TGF-β, the Hippo pathway, NF-κB, eEF-2 kinase, MOB2, hypoxia, acidosis, ROS, Hsp and protective autophagy, have been shown to induce anoikis resistance in glioma. In our present review, we aim to summarize the underlying mechanism of resistance and the therapeutic potential of these molecules.