PATZ1 is a new prognostic marker of glioblastoma associated with the stem-like phenotype and enriched in the proneural subtype

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most malignant of the brain tumors, has been classified on the basis of molecular signature into four subtypes: classical, mesenchymal, proneural and neural, among which the mesenchymal and proneural subtypes have the shortest and longest survival, respectively. Here we show that the transcription factor PATZ1 gene is upregulated in gliomas compared to normal brain and, among GBMs, is particularly enriched in the proneural subtype and co-localize with stemness markers. Accordingly, in GBM-derived glioma-initiating stem cells (GSCs) PATZ1 is overexpressed compared to differentiated tumor cells and its expression significantly correlates with the characteristic stem cell capacity to grow as neurospheres in vitro. Interestingly, survival analysis demonstrated that PATZ1 lower levels informed poor prognosis in GBM and, specifically, in the proneural subgroup, suggesting it may serve a role as diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for intra-subtype heterogeneity of proneural GBM. We also show that PATZ1 suppresses the expression of the mesenchyme-inducer CXCR4, and that PATZ1 and CXCR4 are inversely correlated in GSC and proneural GBM. Overall these findings support a central role of PATZ1 in regulating malignancy of GBM.