Publications
Journal Articles
Olfactory sensory experience regulates gliomagenesis via neuronal IGF1
Published in Nature, 2022
Animals constantly receive various sensory stimuli, such as odours, sounds, light and touch, from the surrounding environment. These sensory inputs are essential for animals to search for food and avoid predators, but they also affect their physiological status, and may cause diseases such as cancer. Malignant gliomas—the most lethal form of brain tumour1—are known to intimately communicate with neurons at the cellular level2,3. However, it remains unclear whether external sensory stimuli can directly affect the development of malignant glioma under normal living conditions. Here we show that olfaction can directly regulate gliomagenesis. In an autochthonous mouse model that recapitulates adult gliomagenesis4,5,6 originating in oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), gliomas preferentially emerge in the olfactory bulb—the first relay of brain olfactory circuitry. Manipulating the activity of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) affects the development of glioma. Mechanistically, olfaction excites mitral and tufted (M/T) cells, which receive sensory information from ORNs and release insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) in an activity-dependent manner. Specific knockout of Igf1 in M/T cells suppresses gliomagenesis. In addition, knocking out the IGF1 receptor in pre-cancerous mutant OPCs abolishes the ORN-activity-dependent mitogenic effects. Our findings establish a link between sensory experience and gliomagenesis through their corresponding sensory neuronal circuits.
Recommended citation: Chen P, Wang W, Liu R, Lyu J, Zhang L, Li B, Qiu B, Tian A, Jiang W, Ying H, Jing R, Wang Q, Zhu K, Bai R, Zeng L, Duan S, Liu C. Olfactory sensory experience regulates gliomagenesis via neuronal IGF1. Nature. 2022 Jun;606(7914):550-556.
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Oncogenic state and cell identity combinatorially dictate the susceptibility of cells within glioma development hierarchy to IGF1R targeting
Published in Advanced Science, 2020
Glioblastoma is the most malignant cancer in the brain and currently incurable. It is urgent to identify effective targets for this lethal disease. Inhibition of such targets should suppress the growth of cancer cells and, ideally also precancerous cells for early prevention, but minimally affect their normal counterparts. Using genetic mouse models with neural stem cells (NSCs) or oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) as the cells-of-origin/mutation, it is shown that the susceptibility of cells within the development hierarchy of glioma to the knockout of insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF1R) is determined not only by their oncogenic states, but also by their cell identities/states. Knockout of IGF1R selectively disrupts the growth of mutant and transformed, but not normal OPCs, or NSCs. The desirable outcome of IGF1R knockout on cell growth requires the mutant cells to commit to the OPC identity regardless of its development hierarchical status. At the molecular level, oncogenic mutations reprogram the cellular network of OPCs and force them to depend more on IGF1R for their growth. A new-generation brain-penetrable, orally available IGF1R inhibitor harnessing tumor OPCs in the brain is also developed. The findings reveal the cellular window of IGF1R targeting and establish IGF1R as an effective target for the prevention and treatment of glioblastoma.
Recommended citation: Tian A, Kang B, Li B, Qiu B, Jiang W, Shao F, Gao Q, Liu R, Cai C, Jing R, Wang W, Chen P, Liang Q, Bao L, Man J, Wang Y, Shi Y, Li J, Yang M, Wang L, Zhang J, Hippenmeyer S, Zhu J, Bian X, Wang YJ, Liu C. Oncogenic State and Cell Identity Combinatorially Dictate the Susceptibility of Cells within Glioma Development Hierarchy to IGF1R Targeting. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2020 Oct 1;7(21):2001724.
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