Chi3l1 is a modulator of glioma stem cell states and a therapeutic vulnerability for glioblastoma [scRNA-seq]

Chi3l1 (Chitinase 3-like 1) is a secreted protein highly expressed in glioblastoma. Here, we show that exposure of glioma stem cells (GSCs) to Chi3l1 reduces the CD133+/SOX2+ cells and increases the CD44+/Chi3l1+ cells. Single cell RNA-seq and RNA velocity following incubation of GSCs with Chi3l1 show significant changes in GSC state dynamics driving GSCs towards a mesenchymal expression profile and reducing transition probabilities towards terminal cellular states. ATAC-seq reveals that Chi3l1 increases accessibility of promoters containing MAZ transcription factor footprint. Inhibition of MAZ directly regulates genes with highest expression in cellular clusters exhibiting significant cell state transitions. To determine the effect of Chi3l1 on GCSs at the single cell level, we applied single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) on glioma stem cells (GSC1 and GSC2) treated with or without Chi3l1 for 7 days using the 10x Genomics Chromium platform.