1. Cytomegalovirus infection of glioblastoma cells leads to NF-κB dependent upregulation of the c-MET oncogenic tyrosine kinase
- Author
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Naureen Keric, Michał Nowicki, Niels Lemmermann, E. Antonio Chiocca, Sean E. Lawler, Magdalena Skubal, Charles H. Cook, Harald Krenzlin, Mykola Zdioruk, and Tomer Finkelberg
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Cancer Research ,C-Met ,Biology ,urologic and male genital diseases ,medicine.disease_cause ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Mice ,0302 clinical medicine ,Downregulation and upregulation ,In vivo ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,urogenital system ,Brain Neoplasms ,NF-kappa B ,virus diseases ,NF-κB ,Cytomegalovirus ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met ,female genital diseases and pregnancy complications ,In vitro ,nervous system diseases ,Up-Regulation ,030104 developmental biology ,Oncology ,chemistry ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cytomegalovirus Infections ,Cancer research ,Glioblastoma ,Tyrosine kinase ,Immunostaining - Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is widespread in humans and has been implicated in glioblastoma (GBM) and other tumors. However, the role of CMV in GBM remains poorly understood and the mechanisms involved are not well-defined. The goal of this study was to identify candidate pathways relevant to GBM that may be modulated by CMV. Analysis of RNAseq data after CMV infection of patient-derived GBM cells showed significant upregulation of GBM-associated transcripts including the MET oncogene, which is known to play a role in a subset of GBM patients. These findings were validated in vitro in both mouse and human GBM cells. Using immunostaining and RT-PCR in vivo, we confirmed c-MET upregulation in a mouse model of CMV-driven GBM progression and in human GBM. siRNA knockdown showed that MET upregulation was dependent on CMV-induced upregulation of NF-κB signaling. Finally, proneural GBM xenografts overexpressing c-MET grew much faster in vivo than controls, suggesting a mechanism by which CMV infection of tumor cells could induce a more aggressive mesenchymal phenotype. These studies implicate the CMV-induced upregulation of c-MET as a potential mechanism involved in the effects of CMV on GBM growth.
- Published
- 2021