Harry R Haynes1, Paul White2, Kelly M Hares3, Juliana Redondo3, Kevin C Kemp3, William G B Singleton4, Clare L Killick-Cole4, Jonathan R Stevens5, Krishnakumar Garadi6, Sam Guglani7, Alastair Wilkins3, Kathreena M Kurian1. 1. Brain Tumour Research Group, Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. 2. Applied Statistics Group, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. 3. MS and Stem Cell Research Group, Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. 4. Functional Neurosurgery Research Group, Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. 5. Department of Cellular Pathology, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK. 6. Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, University Hospital Bristol Trust, Bristol, UK. 7. Gloucestershire Oncology Centre, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cheltenham, UK.
Abstract
AIMS: PPARα agonists are in current clinical use as hypolipidaemic agents and show significant antineoplastic effects in human glioblastoma models. To date however, the expression of PPARα in large-scale glioblastoma datasets has not been examined. We aimed to investigate the expression of the transcription factor PPARα in primary glioblastoma, the relationship between PPARα expression and patients' clinicopathological features and other molecular markers associated with gliomagenesis. METHODS AND RESULTS: With protein immunoblotting techniques and reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR, PPARα was found to be significantly overexpressed in glioblastoma compared with control brain tissue (P = 0.032 and P = 0.005). PPARA gene expression was found to be enriched in the classical glioblastoma subtype within The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Although not associated with overall survival when assessed by immunohistochemistry, cross-validation with the TCGA dataset and multivariate analyses identified PPARA gene expression as an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (P = 0.042). Finally, hierarchical clustering revealed novel, significant associations between high PPARA expression and a putative set of glioblastoma molecular mediators including EMX2, AQP4, and NTRK2. CONCLUSIONS: PPARα is overexpressed in primary glioblastoma and high PPARA expression functions as an independent prognostic marker in the glioblastoma TCGA dataset. Further studies are required to explore genetic associations with high PPARA expression and to analyse the predictive role of PPARα expression in glioblastoma models in response to PPARα agonists.
AIMS: PPARα agonists are in current clinical use as hypolipidaemic agents and show significant antineoplastic effects in humanglioblastoma models. To date however, the expression of PPARα in large-scale glioblastoma datasets has not been examined. We aimed to investigate the expression of the transcription factor PPARα in primary glioblastoma, the relationship between PPARα expression and patients' clinicopathological features and other molecular markers associated with gliomagenesis. METHODS AND RESULTS: With protein immunoblotting techniques and reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR, PPARα was found to be significantly overexpressed in glioblastoma compared with control brain tissue (P = 0.032 and P = 0.005). PPARA gene expression was found to be enriched in the classical glioblastoma subtype within The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Although not associated with overall survival when assessed by immunohistochemistry, cross-validation with the TCGA dataset and multivariate analyses identified PPARA gene expression as an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (P = 0.042). Finally, hierarchical clustering revealed novel, significant associations between high PPARA expression and a putative set of glioblastoma molecular mediators including EMX2, AQP4, and NTRK2. CONCLUSIONS: PPARα is overexpressed in primary glioblastoma and high PPARA expression functions as an independent prognostic marker in the glioblastoma TCGA dataset. Further studies are required to explore genetic associations with high PPARA expression and to analyse the predictive role of PPARα expression in glioblastoma models in response to PPARα agonists.
Authors: Harry R Haynes; Helen L Scott; Clare L Killick-Cole; Gary Shaw; Tim Brend; Kelly M Hares; Juliana Redondo; Kevin C Kemp; Lorena S Ballesteros; Andrew Herman; Oscar Cordero-Llana; William G Singleton; Francesca Mills; Tom Batstone; Harry Bulstrode; Risto A Kauppinen; Heiko Wurdak; James B Uney; Susan C Short; Alastair Wilkins; Kathreena M Kurian Journal: J Pathol Date: 2018-12-27 Impact factor: 7.996
Authors: Kay Ka-Wai Li; Zhi-Feng Shi; Tathiane M Malta; Aden Ka-Yin Chan; Shaz Cheng; Johnny Sheung Him Kwan; Rui Ryan Yang; Wai Sang Poon; Ying Mao; Houtan Noushmehr; Hong Chen; Ho-Keung Ng Journal: Neurooncol Adv Date: 2019-07-17