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World J Stem Cells. May 26, 2023; 15(5): 302-322
Published online May 26, 2023. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v15.i5.302
Delineating the glioblastoma stemness by genes involved in cytoskeletal rearrangements and metabolic alterations
Żaneta Kałuzińska-Kołat, Damian Kołat, Katarzyna Kośla, Elżbieta Płuciennik, Andrzej K Bednarek
Żaneta Kałuzińska-Kołat, Damian Kołat, Department of Experimental Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz 90-136, Lodzkie, Poland
Żaneta Kałuzińska-Kołat, Damian Kołat, Katarzyna Kośla, Andrzej K Bednarek, Department of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz 90-752, Lodzkie, Poland
Elżbieta Płuciennik, Department of Functional Genomics, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz 90-752, Lodzkie, Poland
Author contributions: Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż conceptualized the article; Bednarek AK supervised the article; Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż, Kołat D, Kośla K, Płuciennik E, and Bednarek AK reviewed the literature; Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż and Kołat D visualized the figures and prepared the tables; Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż wrote the original draft; Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż, Kołat D, Kośla K, Płuciennik E, and Bednarek AK reviewed and edited article; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Żaneta Kałuzińska-Kołat, BSc, MSc, Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Department of Experimental Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, 60 Narutowicza, Lodz 90-136, Lodzkie, Poland. zaneta.kaluzinska@umed.lodz.pl
Received: December 10, 2022
Peer-review started: December 10, 2022
First decision: January 23, 2023
Revised: February 3, 2023
Accepted: March 8, 2023
Article in press: March 8, 2023
Published online: May 26, 2023
Processing time: 166 Days and 22.8 Hours
Abstract

Literature data on glioblastoma ongoingly underline the link between metabolism and cancer stemness, the latter is one responsible for potentiating the resistance to treatment, inter alia due to increased invasiveness. In recent years, glioblastoma stemness research has bashfully introduced a key aspect of cytoskeletal rearrangements, whereas the impact of the cytoskeleton on invasiveness is well known. Although non-stem glioblastoma cells are less invasive than glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), these cells also acquire stemness with greater ease if characterized as invasive cells and not tumor core cells. This suggests that glioblastoma stemness should be further investigated for any phenomena related to the cytoskeleton and metabolism, as they may provide new invasion-related insights. Previously, we proved that interplay between metabolism and cytoskeleton existed in glioblastoma. Despite searching for cytoskeleton-related processes in which the investigated genes might have been involved, not only did we stumble across the relation to metabolism but also reported genes that were found to be implicated in stemness. Thus, dedicated research on these genes in GSCs seems justifiable and might reveal novel directions and/or biomarkers that could be utilized in the future. Herein, we review the previously identified cytoskeleton/metabolism-related genes through the prism of glioblastoma stemness.

Keywords: Glioblastoma; Stemness; Cytoskeleton; Metabolism; Biomarkers; Therapy

Core Tip: Glioblastoma stemness intensifies the resistance to treatment via increased invasiveness. Among the processes crucial for glioblastoma stem cells, metabolism is known to influence invasion. However, the cytoskeleton is currently negligent in glioblastoma stemness research, while it also regulates invasion. Herein, we review the link between stemness and cytoskeleton/metabolism-related genes that we previously identified in glioblastoma. These genes influence stemness via numerous biological processes; for some genes, clinical trials are currently ongoing. Others were connected to glioblastoma stemness for the first time. Future glioblastoma-related research should delve into the cytoskeleton since the concept is already encouraging.