Gene expression data from postnatal day 7 subventricular zone (SVZ), IV ventricle and cerebellar white matter-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) and of cancer stem cells (CSCs) from Ptch het p53 wt and Ptch het p53 het mouse medulloblastomas

We exploited microarrays to detail the global program of gene expression underlying normal stem cells and cancer stem cells in the cerebellum and in medulloblastomas (MBs). To identify novel molecular mediators involved in medulloblastomagenesis, we compared the distinct postnatal hindbrain-derived NSC populations, which are potentially tumor-initiating, with murine single Ptch and compound Ptch/p53-mutant MB cancer stem cells (CSCs), the latter faithfully phenocopying the different variants of human MB in vivo. Transcriptome analysis of both hindbrain NSCs and MB CSCs resulted in the generation of well-defined gene signatures, each reminiscent of a specific human MB molecular subclass.