miR-367 promotes proliferation and stem-like traits in medulloblastoma cells.

In medulloblastoma, abnormal expression of pluripotency factors such as LIN28 and OCT4 has been correlated with poor patient survival. The miR-302/367 cluster has also been shown to control self-renewal and pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, but there is limited, mostly correlational, information about these pluripotency-related miRNA in cancer. We evaluated whether aberrant expression of such miRNA could affect tumor cell behavior and stem-like traits, thereby contributing to the aggressiveness of medulloblastoma cells. Basal expression of primary and mature forms of miR-367 were detected in four human medulloblastoma cell lines and expression of the latter was found to be upregulated upon enforced expression of OCT4A. Transient overexpression of miR-367 significantly enhanced tumor features typically correlated with poor prognosis; namely, cell proliferation, 3-D tumor spheroid cell invasion and the ability to generate neurosphere-like structures enriched in CD133 expressing cells. A concurrent downregulation of the miR-367 cancer-related targets RYR3, ITGAV and RAB23, was also detected in miR-367-overexpressing cells. Overall, these findings support the pro-oncogenic activity of miR-367 in medulloblastoma and reveal a possible mechanism contributing to tumor aggressiveness, which could be further explored to improve patient stratification and treatment of this important type of pediatric brain cancer.

RNAi-mediated knockdown of E2F2 inhibits tumorigenicity of human glioblastoma cells.

In a previous genome-wide expression profiling study, we identified E2F2 as a hyperexpressed gene in stem-like cells of distinct glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) specimens. Since the encoded E2F2 transcription factor has been implicated in both tumor suppression and tumor development, we conducted a functional study to investigate the pertinence of E2F2 to human gliomagenesis. E2F2 expression was knocked down by transfecting U87MG cells with plasmids carrying a specific silencing shRNA. Upon E2F2 silencing, in vitro cell proliferation was significantly reduced, as indicated by a time-course analysis of viable tumor cells. Anchorage-independent cell growth was also significantly inhibited after E2F2 silencing, based on cell colony formation in soft agar. Subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models of GBM in nude mice also indicated inhibition of tumor development in vivo, following E2F2 silencing. As expression of the E2F2 gene is associated with glioblastoma stem cells and is involved in the transformation of human astrocytes, the present findings suggest that E2F2 is involved in gliomagenesis and could be explored as a potential therapeutic target in malignant gliomas.

Contamination of mesenchymal stem-cells with fibroblasts accelerates neurodegeneration in an experimental model of Parkinson's disease.

Pre-clinical studies have supported the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to treat highly prevalent neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) but preliminary trials have reported controversial results. In a rat model of PD induced by MPTP neurotoxin, we first observed a significant bilateral preservation of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and prevention of motor deficits typically observed in PD such as hypokinesia, catalepsy, and bradykinesia, following intracerebral administration of human umbilical cord-derived MSC (UC-MSC) early after MPTP injury. However, surprisingly, administration of fibroblasts, mesenchymal cells without stem cell properties, as a xenotransplantation control was highly detrimental, causing significant neurodegeneration and motor dysfunction independently of MPTP. This observation prompted us to further investigate the consequences of transplanting a MSC preparation contaminated with fibroblasts, a plausible circumstance in cell therapy since both cell types display similar immunophenotype and can be manipulated in vitro under the same conditions. Here we show for the first time, using the same experimental model and protocol, that transplantation of UC-MSC induced potent neuroprotection in the brain resulting in clinical benefit. However, co-transplantation of UC-MSC with fibroblasts reverted therapeutic efficacy and caused opposite damaging effects, significantly exacerbating neurodegeneration and motor deficits in MPTP-exposed rats. Besides providing a rationale for testing UC-MSC transplantation in early phases of PD aiming at delaying disease progression, our pre-clinical study suggests that fibroblasts may be common cell contaminants affecting purity of MSC preparations and clinical outcome in stem cell therapy protocols, which might also explain discrepant clinical results.

Human glioblastoma cells display mesenchymal stem cell features and form intracranial tumors in immunocompetent rats.

Isolation of highly tumorigenic stem-like cells from human glioblastoma specimens and cell lines has been focusing on their neural stem cells properties or capacity to efflux fluorescent dyes. Here, we report that, under standard culture conditions, human glioblastoma cells of the U87MG cell line display a predominant mesenchymal phenotype and share some of the in vitro properties of mesenchymal stem cells. Moreover, these cells were capable of forming tumors in immunocompetent rats. Infiltrative intracranial tumors could be detected 15 to 30 days post-stereotaxic cell injection within the motor cortex. Tumors were comprised by pleomorphic and mitotically active cells and displayed necrotic and hemorrhagic foci, which are common features of human glioblastomas. This rather unexpected in vivo tumorigenesis in the absence of immune suppression more closely mimics the physiological milieu encountered by tumor cells and could be explored as a xenograft orthotopic model of human glioblastomas to address new therapeutic approaches, particularly those involving immune effector mechanisms.