Tumor Evolution of Glioma-Intrinsic Gene Expression Subtypes Associates with Immunological Changes in the Microenvironment
Qianghu Wang, Baoli Hu, Xin Hu, Hoon Kim, Massimo Squatrito, Lisa Scarpace, Ana C DeCarvalho, Sali Lyu, Pengping Li, Yan Li, Floris Barthel, Hee Jin Cho, Yu-Hsi Lin, Nikunj Satani, Emmanuel Martinez-Ledesma, Siyuan Zheng, Edward Chang, Charles-Etienne Gabriel Sauvé, Adriana Olar, Zheng D Lan, Gaetano Finocchiaro, Joanna J Phillips, Mitchel S Berger, Konrad R Gabrusiewicz, Guocan Wang, Eskil Eskilsson, Jian Hu, Tom Mikkelsen, Ronald A DePinho, Florian Muller, Amy B Heimberger, Erik P Sulman, Do-Hyun Nam, Roel GW Verhaak 2017. Cancer Cell. 2017 Jul 10;32(1):42-56.e6

Abstract

We leveraged IDH wild-type glioblastomas, derivative neurospheres, and single-cell gene expression profiles to define three tumor-intrinsic transcriptional subtypes designated as proneural, mesenchymal, and classical. Transcriptomic subtype multiplicity correlated with increased intratumoral heterogeneity and presence of tumor microenvironment. In silico cell sorting identified macrophages/microglia, CD4+ T lymphocytes, and neutrophils in the glioma microenvironment. NF1 deficiency resulted in increased tumor-associated macrophages/microglia infiltration. Longitudinal transcriptome analysis showed that expression subtype is retained in 55% of cases. Gene signature-based tumor microenvironment inference revealed a decrease in invading monocytes and a subtype-dependent increase in macrophages/microglia cells upon disease recurrence. Hypermutation at diagnosis or at recurrence associated with CD8+ T cell enrichment. Frequency of M2 macrophages detection associated with short-term relapse after radiation therapy.