Abstract B37: Analysis of the differential expression of human endogenous retrovirus in glioblastoma multiforme

Abstract

Abstract Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and deadly brain tumor. It is primarily diagnosed at older ages and has 5-year survival rate less than 6% even with the most aggressive therapies; the lack of biomarkers for GBM makes the development of its immunotherapy challenging. Human endogenous retrovirus (HERVs) are a group of long terminal repeat (LTR) elements that are believed to be relics from ancient viral infections. Recent studies have found their important roles in regulating various biologic processes. However, our understanding of the LTR elements is greatly lacking. The purpose of our study was to comprehensively characterize the expression profile of LTRs in the GBM compared with normal brain. The 1,077.4 GB of sequencing data contain 111 GBM tissue studies, 30 GBM cell lines studies, and 45 normal brain tissues studies were obtained from public database; the differential expressed repetitive elements were analyzed between GBM and normal brain samples. 48 LTR elements were found differentially expressed (p-value < 0.05) between GBM and normal brain, of which 46 are HERV elements. 34 out of 46 significantly changed HERVs belong to the ERV1 superfamily. Most (43/46) of the differential expressed HERV elements are upregulated in GBM compared with normal brain. Our results suggest a potentially important role of HERVs in the etiology of GBM and future application of these elements as biomarkers for GBM treatments. Citation Format: Zihao Yuan, Ningyan Zhang, Zhiqiang An, Wenjin Zheng. Analysis of the differential expression of human endogenous retrovirus in glioblastoma multiforme [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Microbiome, Viruses, and Cancer; 2020 Feb 21-24; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(8 Suppl):Abstract nr B37.