Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2018
Journal
Oncotarget
Volume
9
Inclusive Pages
5233-5250
DOI
10.18632/oncotarget.23750
Abstract
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a highly aggressive glial tumor that occurs in children. The extremely poor median and 5-year survival in children afflicted with DIPG highlights the need for novel biology-driven therapeutics. Here, we have implicated the chromatin remodeler and regulator of brain development called RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor (REST), in DIPG pathology. We show that REST protein is aberrantly elevated in at least 21% of DIPG tumors compared to normal controls. Its knockdown in DIPG cell lines diminished cell growth and decreased their tumorigenicity in mouse intracranial models. DIPGs are vascularized tumors and interestingly, REST loss in DIPG cells also caused a substantial decline in tumor vasculature as measured by a decrease in CD31 and VEGFR2 staining. These observations were validated in vitro, where a significant decline in tube formation by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was seen following REST-loss in DIPG cells. Mechanistically, REST controlled the secretion of a pro-angiogenic molecule and ligand for VEGFR2 called Gremlin-1 (GREM-1), and was associated with enhanced AKT activation. Importantly, the decline in tube formation caused by REST loss could be rescued by addition of recombinant GREM-1, which also caused AKT activation in HUVECs and human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). In summary, our study is the first to demonstrate autocrine and paracrine functions for REST in DIPG development. It also provides the foundation for future investigations on anti-angiogenic therapies targeting GREM-1 in combination with drugs that target REST-associated chromatin remodeling activities.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
APA Citation
Shaik, S., Kennis, B., Maegawa, S., Schadler, K., Yanwen, Y., Nazarian, J., & +several additional authors (2018). REST upregulates gremlin to modulate diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma vasculature. Oncotarget, 9 (). http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.23750
Peer Reviewed
1
Open Access
1
Included in
Disease Modeling Commons, Genetics and Genomics Commons, Integrative Biology Commons, Systems Biology Commons
Comments
Reproduced with permission of Impact Journals. Oncotarget.