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Glioma is the most common and malignant tumor of the central nervous system. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive glioma, with a poor prognosis and no effective treatment because of its high invasiveness, metabolic rate, and heterogeneity. The tumor microenvironment (TME) contains many tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which play a critical role in tumor proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis and indirectly promote an immunosuppressive microenvironment. TAM is divided into tumor-suppressive M1-like (classic activation of macrophages) and tumor-supportive M2-like (alternatively activated macrophages) polarized cells. TAMs exhibit an M1-like phenotype in the initial stages of tumor progression, and along with the promotion of lysing tumors and the functions of T cells and NK cells, tumor growth is suppressed, and they rapidly transform into M2-like polarized macrophages, which promote tumor progression. In this review, we discuss the mechanism by which M1- and M2-polarized macrophages promote or inhibit the growth of glioblastoma and indicate the future directions for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gliomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors. Understanding the molecular basis of gliomas' progression is required to develop more effective therapies. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade is an important signal transduction pathway in human cancers. Although, overactivation of this pathway is a hallmark of several forms of cancer, little is known about its role in human gliomas. Here, we aimed to determine the clinical significance of Wnt/β-catenin pathway components in gliomas. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the expression patterns of Wnt1, β-catenin and Cyclin D1 in the biopsies from 96 patients with primary gliomas. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the prognosis of patients. Cytoplasmic staining pattern of Wnt1, membranous, cytoplasmic and nuclear accumulation of β-catenin, and nuclear localization of Cyclin D1 were demonstrated by immunohistochemical staining. The Wnt1 expression significantly correlated with the expression of Cyclin D1 ( P < 0.0001). The ratio of tumors with a cytoplasmic-nuclear pattern or a cytoplasmic pattern of β-catenin was significantly higher in Wnt1-positive ( P < 0.01) and Cyclin D1-positive ( P < 0.01) tumors than in Wnt1-negative and Cyclin D1-negative tumors, respectively. The protein expression levels of Wnt1, β-catenin and Cyclin D1 were all positively correlated with the Karnofsky performance scale (KPS) score and World Health Organization (WHO) grades of patients with gliomas. Furthermore, Wnt1, cytoplasmic-nuclear β-catenin and Cyclin D1 status were all the independent prognostic factors for glioma patients ( P = 0.01, 0.007 and 0.005, respectively). These results provide convincing evidence that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway correlated closely with the progression of gliomas and might be a novel prognostic marker for this neoplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epigenetic gene silencing of the tumor suppressor death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1) is implicated in the progression of malignant gliomas. However, the mechanism underlying the repression of DAPK1 in gliomas remains elusive. In this study, we identified the existence of DAPK1-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP 3 R)-interacting protein (ITPRIP) -myosin regulatory light polypeptide 9 (MYL9) complex in malignant glioma cells. Lentivirus co-infection and coimmunoprecipitation showed that ITPRIP bound with the death domain (DD) of DAPK1 in vitro. Further, dissociating ITPRIP-DAPK1 interaction inhibited glioma tumor growth in vitro but not in vivo. Moreover, knockdown of ITPRIP or DAPK1 impaired the ternary complex formation, whereas MYL9 knockdown did not affect ITPRIP-DAPK1 association. We further found that ITPRIP recruited MYL9 to the kinase domain (KD) of DAPK1, and in turn impeded the phosphorylation of MYL9. Accordingly, interference of ITPRIP enhanced the suppressive effects of DAPK1-KD on glioma progression both in vitro and in vivo. Our results demonstrate that ITPRIP plays a crucial role in the inhibition of DAPK1 and enhancement of tumorigenic properties of malignant glioma cells. [Display omitted] • ITPRIP interacted with DAPK1 and MYL9 in glioma cells. • Disrupting ITPRIP-DAPK1 interaction suppressed glioma progression in vitro. • ITRPIP increased MYL9-DAPK1 binding and inhibited MYL9 phosphorylation in glioma cells. • ITPRIP interference enhanced DAPK1-KD suppression on glioma progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]