Table 4 Selected genes and their function in gliomas and cancer in general
Gene | Function |
|---|---|
ACACA | Aberrant expression increases cancer risk [82]; down-regulation suppresses malignant progression of prostate cancer [83] |
AKT3 | Amplification promotes glioma progression [84]; it delays tumor progression, therefore strategies that inhibit AKT3 may be unhelpful in some glioblastoma patients [85] |
ANXA7 | De-regulated in many cancers, appears to have a tumor-suppression role in glioblastoma [86]; tumor suppressor, augments EGFR signaling in glioblastomas [87] |
BAK1 | Targeting BAK1 enhances chemosensitivity of glioblastoma stem cells to Temozolomide [88] |
BRAF | Lower-grade gliomas of childhood are characterized by BRAF mutations [89]; BRAF mutation associated with improved survival in glioma [90] |
BRCA2 | Downregulation can sensitize glioma cells to killing by anti-cancer drugs [91]; factor for poor prognosis in glioma patients [92] |
CDK1 | Inhibiting CDK1 activity promotes apoptosis in glioblastoma [93]; significantly enriched in glioblastoma cell cycle [94] |
CHEK2 | CHEK2 gene polymorphism might correlate with prognosis of glioblastoma patients [95], activated upon DNA damage; associated with breast cancer [96] |
EEF2 | Regulates autophagy in human glioblastoma cells [97]; targeting EEF2 kinase can enhance the antitumor activity of Temozolomide against glioma [98], tumor-associated antigen overexpressed in various types of cancers [99] |
EIF4EBP1 | Increased expression in malignant gliomas [100]; overexpression linked to poor survival and disease progression in hepatocellular carcinoma [101] |
ETS1 | Key role on vascular abnormality in glioblastoma [102] |
FASN | Up-regulation of FASN correlates strongly with glioma grade [103, 104]; inhibition of FASN decreases expression of stemness markers in glioma stem cells [105] |
FN1 | Upregulated in glioblastoma; promotes glioblastoma cell proliferation by altering PTPRM methylation [106] |
FOXM1 | Promotes glioma cells progression [107]; overexpressed in malignant glioma [108] |
GSK3B | GSK3B activity is a critical regulator of glioblastoma stem-like cell survival and apoptosis [109]; potential anticancer targets for astrocytoma therapy [110]; AKT/GSK3 signaling pathway plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of glioblastoma [111] |
MTOR | Important role in glioblastoma [66]; therapeutic target for glioblastoma [67, 68]; the activity of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR is also associated with astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma [69] |
MYC | MYC inhibition effective against glioma [112], c-Myc protein required for maintenance of glioma cancer stem cells [113] |
NFKB1 | Significantly up-regulated in tumor tissue of glioblastoma, astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma but not in other cancer types [114], implicated in carcinogenesis, in some cases as tumor-driver, in others as tumour-suppressor [115] |
PECAM1 | Downregulated in glioblastoma; correlated to the overexpression of HIF-1\(\alpha\), a transcriptional regulator increasing tumor aggressiveness, invasiveness and resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy [116] |
PIK3R2 | Regulates the activity of PI3K, which is linked to many cell functions, and well known in glioma [117,118,119]; frequently mutated, and associated with tumor proliferation and increased invasion [49, 50]; proposed as a cancer prognostic marker [51, 52] |
RAB11A | The RAB11 family protein family is the master regulator of vesicular trafficking and is prone to be altered in human cancers [120] |
RB1 | Downregulated in human brain tumors [121]; alteration of the RB1-pathway related genes are associated with shorter survival in low-grade gliomas [122]; in glioblastoma, loss of RB1 expression correlates with hypermethylation, which is not reported in low-grade astrocytoma [123] |
SQSTM1 | Acts as a regulator in autophagy in glioblastoma cells [124]; and cancer in general [125] |
SYK | SYK inhibition blocks proliferation and migration of glioma cells [126]; associated with malignant phenotype and immune checkpoints in diffuse glioma [127] |
TSC2 | AKT activation in human glioblastomas enhances proliferation via TSC2 and S6 kinase signaling [128], TSC2 protects glioblastoma from cell death induced by Photodynamic therapy [129] |
YBX1 | Potential regulator of tumor invasion in glioblastoma [130], highly overexpressed in multiple cancer types |