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. 2021 Dec 20;4(1):vdab163.
doi: 10.1093/noajnl/vdab163. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

Expression of pluripotency-related genes in human glioblastoma

Álvaro Fabrício Lopes Rios  1 , Daniela Pretti da Cunha Tirapelli  2 , Mucio Luiz de Assis Cirino  2 , Andressa Romualdo Rodrigues  3 , Ester S Ramos  4 , Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Jr  2
Affiliations

Expression of pluripotency-related genes in human glioblastoma

Álvaro Fabrício Lopes Rios et al. Neurooncol Adv. .

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a group of heterogeneous diseases characterized by several disruptions of the genetic and epigenetic components of cell biology. Some types of cancer have been shown to be constituted by a mosaic of cells with variable differentiation states, with more aggressive tumors being more undifferentiated. In most cases, undifferentiated tumor cells express associated embryonic markers such as the OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, and CARM1 genes. The ectopic or reminiscent expression of some master regulator genes of pluripotency has been indicated as the cause of the poorly differentiated state of tumors, and based on the evidence of some reports, can be used as a possible therapeutic target. Considering this information, a more detailed investigation of the expression of pluripotency-associated genes is necessary to evaluate the roles of these genes in the etiology of some tumors and their use targets of therapy.

Methods: The expression of four pluripotency-related genes was investigated (OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, and CARM1) in the most malignant primary human brain tumor, glioblastoma (GBM).

Results and conclusion: The results demonstrated a signature of OCT4/SOX2/CARM1 genes and a significant increase of CARM1 expression in GBM cases.

Keywords: cancer; gene expression; pluripotency; stem cell.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
RT-PCR analysis of specific amplification by specific primer pairs of OCT4A and NANOG transcripts in: (1) NTERA2, an undifferentiated cell expressing NANOG and OCT4A but not NANOGP8; (2) peripheral blood cell cDNA (differentiated cell pool), negative for OCT4A [11, 25]. L50 – ladder 50 base pairs.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Graphic representation of differences of fold expression between GBM and control samples derived from quantitative RT-PCR of the genes: (a) OCT4 (P = .3561, P < .05); and (c) CARM1 (P = .0201, P < .05).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Percentage of GBM samples presenting one of the respective molecular signatures: OCT4-SOX2-CARM1 (70.83%), OCT4-CARM1(8.33%), and SOX2-CARM1 (20.83%).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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