GlioM&M: Web-based tool for studying circulating and infiltrating monocytes and macrophages in glioma

Monocytes, macrophages and microglia make up a large part of the glioma environment and have an important role in maintaining and propagating glioma progression. Targeting these cells to inhibit their tumor promoting effect and reprogramming them into an anti-tumor phenotype has been one of the focal points of glioma therapy. In this study we have analyzed the transcriptomes of 8 different monocyte subgroups derived from the brain and the blood of glioma bearing mice. This includes the immune expression profile of blood-derived monocytes versus tumor infiltrating monocytes identifying increased expression of both pro- and anti-inflammatory pathways in tumor infiltrating monocytes. To identify new markers and targets for therapy in these different cell populations, we created a user-friendly web-based tool accessible at www.glioma-monocytes.com (temporary password 'MM2MM2'). In addition, this tool can be used for validation purposes and to elucidate gene expression profiles of tumor interacting-monocytes and macrophages as well as blood-derived circulating monocytes. Analysis of the transcriptomal profile of monocyte in a glioma mouse model Result: Infiltrating monocytes and macrophages express a high level of activation as compared to blood monocytes Overall design: mRNA expression of monocytes isolated from tumor-bearing brain were analyzed by RNAseq, using Illumina Nextseq.