Systems analysis of single-cell heterogeneity underlying glioma drug resistance

This study characterizes the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that drive responses of two patient-derived glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) stem-like cells (PD-GSCs) that have distinct phenotypes - one sensitive and another resistant to the drug pitavastatin. This study investigates the differing mechanisms driving drug response in the two PD-GSCs at the single-cell level, and provides an approach that can be used to infer transcriptional regulatory network models, which can then be used to identify mechanisms driving cell-state transitions, e.g., proneural-to-mesenchymal transitions (PMT), which has been observed experimentally and clinically in GBM. The use of these network models enabled the identification of transcription factor and gene targets that perturbed drug-induced PMT... (for more see dbGaP study page.)