Suppression of mitochondrial ROS by prohibitin drives glioblastoma progression and therapeutic resistance

Nat Commun. 2021 Jun 17;12(1):3720. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24108-6.

Abstract

Low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are crucial for maintaining cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their ability to resist therapy, but the ROS regulatory mechanisms in CSCs remains to be explored. Here, we discover that prohibitin (PHB) specifically regulates mitochondrial ROS production in glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) and facilitates GSC radiotherapeutic resistance. We find that PHB is upregulated in GSCs and is associated with malignant gliomas progression and poor prognosis. PHB binds to peroxiredoxin3 (PRDX3), a mitochondrion-specific peroxidase, and stabilizes PRDX3 protein through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Knockout of PHB dramatically elevates ROS levels, thereby inhibiting GSC self-renewal. Importantly, deletion or pharmacological inhibition of PHB potently slows tumor growth and sensitizes tumors to radiotherapy, thus providing significant survival benefits in GSC-derived orthotopic tumors and glioblastoma patient-derived xenografts. These results reveal a selective role of PHB in mitochondrial ROS regulation in GSCs and suggest that targeting PHB improves radiotherapeutic efficacy in glioblastoma.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • Astrocytoma / metabolism
  • Brain Neoplasms / genetics
  • Brain Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Brain Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Disease Progression
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Glioblastoma / genetics
  • Glioblastoma / metabolism*
  • Glioblastoma / pathology
  • Glioblastoma / radiotherapy
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Middle Aged
  • Mitochondria / drug effects
  • Mitochondria / metabolism
  • Neoplasm Grading
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Peroxiredoxins / metabolism
  • Prognosis
  • Prohibitins
  • Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / metabolism
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
  • Repressor Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Repressor Proteins / genetics
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism*
  • Tissue Array Analysis
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • PHB protein, human
  • Prohibitins
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Peroxiredoxins
  • Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex