Snail depletes the tumorigenic potential of glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain malignancy characterized by high heterogeneity and invasiveness. It is increasingly accepted that the refractory feature of GBM to current therapies stems from the existence of few tumorigenic cells that sustain tumor growth and spreading, the so-called glioma-initiating cells (GICs). Previous studies showed that cytokines of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family induce differentiation of the GICs, and thus act as tumor suppressors.

Sox21 inhibits glioma progression in vivo by forming complexes with Sox2 and stimulating aberrant differentiation.

Sox2 is a transcription factor in neural stem cells and keeps the cells immature and proliferative. Sox2 is expressed in primary human glioma such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), primary glioma cells and glioma cell lines and is implicated in signaling pathways in glioma connected to malignancy. Sox21, the counteracting partner of Sox2, has the same expression pattern as Sox2 in glioma but in general induces opposite effects.

Canine mammary tumors contain cancer stem-like cells and form spheroids with an embryonic stem cell signature.

We have investigated the presence of tentative stem-like cells in the canine mammary tumor cell line CMT-U229. This cell line is established from an atypical benign mixed mammary tumor, which has the property of forming duct-like structures in collagen gels. Stem cells in mammary glands are located in the epithelium; therefore we thought that the CMT-U229 cell line would be suitable for detection of tentative cancer stem-like cells.

Forced expression of Sox21 inhibits Sox2 and induces apoptosis in human glioma cells.

Numerous studies support a role for Sox2 to keep stem cells and progenitor cells in an immature and proliferative state. Coexpression of Sox2 and GFAP has been found in regions of the adult brain where neural stem cells are present and in human glioma cells. In our study, we have investigated the roles of Sox2 and its counteracting partner Sox21 in human glioma cells.

Cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase II inhibits cell proliferation, Sox9 expression and Akt phosphorylation in human glioma cell lines.

Earlier we used a glioma model to identify loci in the mouse genome, which were repeatedly targeted by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-containing Moloney murine leukemia viruses. The gene Prkg2, encoding cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase II, cGKII, was tagged by retroviral insertions in two brain tumors. The insertions were both situated upstream of the kinase domain and suggested creating a truncated form of the cGKII protein.