RelB acts as a molecular switch driving chronic inflammation in glioblastoma multiforme

Michael R. Waters, Angela S. Gupta, Karli Mockenhaupt, La Shardai N. Brown, Debolina D. Biswas, Tomasz Kordula

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a primary brain tumor characterized by extensive necrosis and immunosuppressive inflammation. The mechanisms by which this inflammation develops and persists in GBM remain elusive. We identified two cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1) and oncostatin M (OSM) that strongly negatively correlate with patient survival. We found that these cytokines activate RelB/p50 complexes by a canonical NF-κB pathway, which surprisingly drives expression of proinflammatory cytokines in GBM cells, but leads to their inhibition in non-transformed astrocytes. We discovered that one allele of the gene encoding deacetylase Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), needed for repression of cytokine genes, is deleted in 80% of GBM tumors. Furthermore, RelB specifically interacts with a transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) in GBM cells and activates GBM-specific gene expression programs. As a result, GBM cells continuously secrete proinflammatory cytokines and factors attracting/activating glioma-associated microglia/macrophages and thus, promote a feedforward inflammatory loop.

Original languageEnglish
Article number37
JournalOncogenesis
Volume8
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2019

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