title: Reprogramming the fate of human glioma cells to impede brain tumor development.
abstract: Malignant gliomas, the most common solid tumors in the central nervous system, are essentially incurable due to their rapid growth and very invasive nature. One potential approach to eradicating glioma cells is to force these cells to undergo terminal differentiation and, in the process, to irreversible postmitotic arrest. Here, we show that neurogenin 2 (NGN2, also known as NEUROG2) synergizes with sex-determining region Y-box 11 (SOX11) to very efficiently convert human glioma cells to terminally differentiated neuron-like cells in both cell culture and adult mouse brains. These cells exhibit neuronal morphology, marker expression, and electrophysiological properties. The conversion process is accompanied by cell cycle exit, which dramatically inhibits glioma cell proliferation and tumor development after orthotopic transplantation. Most importantly, intracranial injection of NGN2- and SOX11-expressing virus into the tumor mass also curtails glioma growth and significantly improves survival of tumor-bearing mice. Taken together, this study shows a simple and highly efficient strategy for reprogramming malignant glioma cells into postmitotic cells, which might be a promising therapeutic approach for brain tumors.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA [2] Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology of Ministry of Education, Neuroscience Research Center of Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, 800 Xiangyin Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
authors.forename: M-L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
authors.forename: L-L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
authors.forename: C-L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000473:pathology*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019070:Cell Lineage; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming; D005910:Glioma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D055751:SOXC Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D055751:SOXC Transcription Factors; C491183:NEUROG2 protein, human; C097473:SOX11 protein, human