Oncogene AEG-1 Promotes Glioma-Induced Neurodegeneration by Increasing Glutamate Excitotoxicity.
Aggressive tumor growth, diffuse tissue invasion, and neurodegeneration are hallmarks of malignant glioma. Although glutamate excitotoxicity is considered to play a key role in glioma-induced neurodegeneration, the mechanism(s) controlling this process is poorly understood. Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is an oncogene that is overexpressed in several types of human cancers, including more than 90% of brain tumors. In addition, AEG-1 promotes gliomagenesis, particularly in the context of tumor growth and invasion, 2 primary characteristics of glioma. In the present study, we investigated the contribution of AEG-1 to glioma-induced neurodegeneration. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis in normal brain tissues and samples from glioma patients indicated a strong negative correlation between expression of AEG-1 and a primary glutamate transporter of astrocytes EAAT2. Gain- and loss-of-function studies in normal primary human fetal astrocytes and T98G glioblastoma multiforme cells revealed that AEG-1 repressed EAAT2 expression at a transcriptional level by inducing YY1 activity to inhibit CBP function as a coactivator on the EAAT2 promoter. In addition, AEG-1-mediated EAAT2 repression caused a reduction of glutamate uptake by glial cells, resulting in induction of neuronal cell death. These findings were also confirmed in samples from glioma patients showing that AEG-1 expression negatively correlated with NeuN expression. Taken together, our findings suggest that AEG-1 contributes to glioma-induced neurodegeneration, a hallmark of this fatal tumor, through regulation of EAAT2 expression. Cancer Res; 71(20); 6514-23. ©2011 AACR.[1]References
- Oncogene AEG-1 Promotes Glioma-Induced Neurodegeneration by Increasing Glutamate Excitotoxicity. Lee, S.G., Kim, K., Kegelman, T.P., Dash, R., Das, S.K., Choi, J.K., Emdad, L., Howlett, E.L., Jeon, H.Y., Su, Z.Z., Yoo, B.K., Sarkar, D., Kim, S.H., Kang, D.C., Fisher, P.B. Cancer Res. (2011) [Pubmed]
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