Tumor edge-to-core transition promotes malignancy in primary-to-recurrent glioblastoma progression in a PLAGL1/CD109-mediated mechanism.

Background: Glioblastoma remains highly lethal due to its inevitable recurrence. Most of this recurrence is found locally, indicating that postsurgical tumor-initiating cells (TICs) accumulate at the tumor edge. These edge-TICs then generate local recurrence harboring new core lesions. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of the edge-to-core (E-to-C) signature generating glioblastoma recurrence and sought to identify its central mediators.

Methods: First, we examined the association of E-to-C-related expression changes to patient outcome in matched primary and recurrent samples ( = 37). Specifically, we tested whether the combined decrease of the edge-TIC marker PROM1 (CD133) with the increase of the core-TIC marker CD109, representing E-to-C transition during the primary-to-recurrence progression, indicates poorer patient outcome. We then investigated the specific molecular mediators that trigger tumor recurrence driven by the E-to-C progression. Subsequently, the functional and translational significance of the identified molecule was validated with our patient-derived edge-TIC models in vitro and in vivo.

Results: Patients exhibiting the CD133/CD109 signature upon recurrence representing E-to-C transition displayed a strong association with poorer progression-free survival and overall survival among all tested patients. Differential gene expression identified that was tightly correlated with the core TIC marker and was linked to shorter patient survival. Experimentally, forced PLAGL1 overexpression enhanced, while its knockdown reduced, glioblastoma edge-derived tumor growth in vivo and subsequent mouse survival, suggesting its essential role in the E-to-C-mediated glioblastoma progression.

Conclusions: E-to-C axis represents an ongoing lethal process in primary glioblastoma contributing to its recurrence, partly in a PLAGL1/CD109-mediated mechanism.