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Targeting EZH2 regulates the biological characteristics of glioma stem cells via the Notch1 pathway

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Abstract

Glioma is the most common malignant brain tumor, and its behavior is closely related to the presence of glioma stem cells (GSCs). We found that the enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is highly expressed in glioma and that its expression is correlated with the prognosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in two databases: The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas. Additionally, EZH2 is known to regulate the stemness-associated gene expression, proliferation, and invasion ability of GSCs, which may be achieved through the activation of the STAT3 and Notch1 pathways. Furthermore, we demonstrated the effect of the EZH2-specific inhibitor GSK126 on GSCs; these results not only corroborate our hypothesis, but also provide a potential novel treatment approach for glioma.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory for providing technical instruction.

Funding

This work was supported by Suzhou Science and Technology Plan Projects (SYS2020123), Wujiang Science, Education, and Health Project (WWK202112), and Suzhou Ninth People’s Hospital Research Fund Project (YK202128).

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Author notes

  1. Guozheng Zhao and Zhitong Deng contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215000, China

    Guozheng Zhao, Zhitong Deng, Xuetao Li, Hao Wang, Guangliang Chen, Ming Feng & Youxin Zhou

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Suzhou Ninth People’s Hospital, Suzhou, 215000, China

    Guozheng Zhao

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Huzhou University, Huzhou, 313000, China

    Zhitong Deng

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  1. Guozheng Zhao
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Zhao, G., Deng, Z., Li, X. et al. Targeting EZH2 regulates the biological characteristics of glioma stem cells via the Notch1 pathway. Exp Brain Res 241, 2409–2418 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-023-06693-8

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