CTGF expression is indicative of better survival rates in patients with medulloblastoma.

Abstract

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most frequent malignant brain tumor in children and it is subgrouped into 4 entities (SHH, WNT, Group 3, and Group 4). Molecular pathways involved in these different subgroups still are evolving and can be of clinical relevance to therapy. The YAP1-CTGF axis is known to regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and cell death; however, its role in MB is poorly explored. We aimed to investigate the role of YAP1 gene in the MB SHH cell line DAOY and evaluate cell proliferation, doubling time and 3D spheroids invasion and its consequence on CTGF regulation. We assessed CTGF expression from 22 children with MB. Lastly, we validated our findings through in silico analysis in large cohorts dataset of patients. We observed an increased invasion rate of DAOY cells and CTGF downregulation under YAP1 knockdown (p < 0.0001). Additionally CTGF is overexpressed in MB with extensive nodularity subtype and an indicative of higher survival rates in pediatric MB (p < 0.05). Interestingly, no difference of CTGF expression was observed between molecular subgroups. These results provide new evidence ofCTGF as a potential prognostic marker for MB, corroborating to the role of YAP1 in restricting MB cell.