Comparison study of glioma stem cells and adult human neural stem cells

Glioblastoma, the most common and malignant brain tumor, harbors stem-like cells that self-renew and propagate upon serial transplantation. Although they share functional, morphological and developmental similarities to adult brain neural stem cells, stem cell characteristic pathways contributing to glioblastoma stem-like cells have not been consistently determined. Towards this goal we have provided an internally coherent molecular reference that compares adult neural and glioblastoma stem cells cultivated under identical conditions. Genes dysregulated between these populations are correlated with clinical outcome in glioblastoma, and are highly expressed in embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. The resource yields a key role for Wnt and a core group of dysregulated pathways. We have verified the contribution to proliferation and sphere formation of Wnt- differentially activated genes through the Wnt inhibitor SFRP1. The glioblastoma and neural stem cell gene-expression and pathway comparative resource provides a powerful new tool for the identification of potential therapeutic targets. 14 samples was analyzed; 5 individual samples of adult neural stem cells and 9 individual samples of glioma stem cells