Transcriptomic analysis of neural stem and progenitor cells in comparison with glioblastoma stem cells

Abstract

Introduction. There is currently no effective therapy for the treatment of glioblastoma. This is partly explained by the high degree of intra- and intertumor heterogeneity of GB, the source of which is believed to be glioblastoma stem cells (GSC). The question of the origin of GSC, which is important for improving clinical outcomes, still remains open. It is believed that GSCs can be formed as a result of oncogenic transformation of neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPcs), which have morphological and functional properties similar to them. Despite significant progress in elucidating the nature of GSCs, little is yet known about the specifically expressed genes and transcripts in these cells in comparison with NSPcs. In this regard, it becomes relevant to study the molecular mechanisms of gliomagenesis using model cell systems based on various clones of GSC.Aim. To conduct a comparative transcriptomic analysis of CD133+-NSPCs and CD133+-GSCs to study the molecular genetic differences between the phenotypes of these cells and identify potential targets for therapeutic effects on GSCs.Materials and methods. Used: highly sensitive transcriptomic analysis on high-density microarrays, cellular technologies, modern bioinformatics analysis.Results. Transcriptomic analysis of CD133+-GSCs and CD133+-NSPCs identified 1825 differentially expressed genes. The biological processes and signaling cascades activated in CD133+-GSCs have been established. It was shown that significant transcriptomic aberrations in CD133+-GSC compared to CD133+-NSPC are primarily due to a group of transcripts regulated by the Shh (Sonic hedgehog), mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) signaling cascades, transcription factors E2F1, PRC2, HOXA9, MYC, as well as oncogenes ERBB2 and KRAS. Six transcripts (AQP9, TOX15, HOXB2, STEAP3, TREM1, RFC2) highly expressed in CD133+-GSC and closely associated with the survival of patients with glioblastoma, which may be potential targets for therapeutic effects on CD133+-GSC associated with gliomagenesis, which may be potential targets for therapeutic effects on CD133+-GSC, have been identified and annotated.Conclusion. The data obtained indicate a number of significant molecular genetic differences between the two cell phenotypes, which can be used in the development of new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Keywords

• glioblastoma
• glioblastoma stem cells
• neural stem cells
• progenitor cells
• transcriptomics