Piwil1 Regulates Glioma Stem Cell Maintenance and Glioblastoma Progression

Piwi proteins are a subfamily of Argonaute proteins that maintain germ cells in eukaryotes. However, the role of their human homologues in cancer stem cells and more broadly in cancer is poorly understood. Here, we report that the Piwi-like family members, including Piwil1 (Hiwi), are overexpressed in glioblastoma (GBM), with Piwil1 levels most frequently elevated. Piwil1 is enriched in glioma stem cells (GSCs) and helps to maintain their self-renewal. GSCs were transduces with control non-targeting shRNAs (shNT) and shPiwil1 (#1 and #2) and global gene expression was analyzed to identify Piwil1 downscream singalings. 3832 GSCs were transduced with shNT or two shPiwil1 (#1 and #2) lentivirus. Each shRNA had four biological replicates.