Transcriptomic analysis of proneural and mesenchymal glioma stem cells

High grade gliomas (HGGs) are the one of the most deadly tumors in adults. Glioma stem cells (GSCs), categorized into proneural (PN) and mesenchymal (MES), are a subpopulation of stem-like cells that contribute to HGG aggressiveness, recurrence, and resistance to treatments. Here, we characterized key factors in gene expression regulation (alternative splicing (AS) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)) in PN and MES subtypes. In comparison to PN, MES (the most aggressive and treatment relapsed) have more splicing deregulation and a high number of lncRNA overexpressed. In MES, AS events are related to a decreasing in genes expression, suggesting a correlation to loss of functionalities. MES have more cancer genes and with AS and more tumor suppressor genes with AS and down regulated (63%) versus PN (33%). LncRNAs over expressed in MES are associated with a poor overall survival in HGG patients. We demonstrate therefore that AS and lncRNA contribute to the uniqueness in GSC subtype and could be new targets for HGG treatments.