Reconstructing and reprogramming the tumor propagating potential of glioblastoma stem-like cells: ChIP-seq

Developmental fate decisions are dictated by master transcription factors (TFs) that interact with cis-regulatory elements to direct transcriptional programs. Certain malignant tumors may also depend on a cellular hierarchy reminiscent of normal development but superimposed on underlying genetic aberrations. In glioblastoma (GBM), a subset of stem-like tumor- propagating cells (TPCs) appears to drive tumor progression and underlie therapeutic resistance, yet remain poorly understood. Here, we identify a core set of neurodevelopmental TFs (POU3F2, SOX2, SALL2, OLIG2) essential for GBM propagation. These TFs coordinately bind and activate TPC-specific regulatory elements, and are sufficient to fully reprogram differentiated GBM cells to ‘induced’ TPCs that recapitulate the epigenetic landscape and phenotype of native TPCs. We reconstruct a TF network model that highlights critical interactions and identifies novel therapeutic targets for eliminating TPCs. Our study establishes the epigenetic basis of a developmental hierarchy in a devastating malignancy, provides detailed insight into the underlying gene regulatory programs, and suggests attendant therapeutic strategies. Histone modification profiling for H3K27ac and transcription factors in glioblastoma cell line reprogramming The raw data files have been submitted to dbGAP.