The pleiotrophin-ALK axis is required for tumorigenicity of glioblastoma stem cells
R Koyama-Nasu1, R Haruta1, Y Nasu-Nishimura1
1Laboratory of Molecular and Genetic Information, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
Increasing evidence suggests that brain tumors arise from the transformation of neural stem/precursor/progenitor cells. Much current research on human brain tumors is focused on the stem-like properties of glioblastoma. Here we show that anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and its ligand pleiotrophin are required for the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). Furthermore, we demonstrate that pleiotrophin is transactivated directly by SOX2, a transcription factor essential for the maintenance of both neural stem cells and GSCs. We speculate that the pleiotrophin-ALK axis may be a promising target for the therapy of glioblastoma.
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