Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and most frequently diagnosed malignant human glioma. Despite the best available standard of care (surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy), the median survival of GBM patients is less than 2 years. Many recent studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are important for promoting or reducing/limiting GBM growth. In particular, we previously showed that GBMs express decreased levels of miR-100 relative to control tissue and that restoring miR-100 expression reduced GBM tumorigenicity by modulating SMRT/NCOR2 (Nuclear Receptor Corepressor 2). Here, we demonstrate that miR-100 overexpression decreases expression of the stem cell markers, nestin and L1CAM, and decreases proliferation of GBM tumor-initiating cells (cancer stem cells). We further show that miR-100-mediated anti-tumorigenic activity limits the activity of SMARCA5 and its downstream target STAT3 (known as mTOR-STAT3-Notch pathway). In addition, we report ErbB3 (Her3) as a putative miR-100 target, including inhibition of its downstream AKT and ERK signaling pathways.
Keywords: ErbB3; GBM stem-like cells; SMARCA5; miR; microRNA; tumor initiating cells.