Proteins of Wnt signaling pathway in cancer stem cells of human glioblastoma.

Abstract Rationale: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive primary glial brain tumor. The prognosis for GBM patients is not favorable, with the median survival time being 15 months. Its treatment resistance is associated with GBM cell population having cancer stem cells (CSCs). Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is a strategically important molecular mechanism, providing proliferation of stem cells of all types. This study compares the expression levels of signaling pathway proteins in CD133(+) CSCs and CD133(−) differentiated glioblastoma cells (DGCs). Materials and methods: the present study used U-87MG cells of human glioblastoma, the material was tested for mycoplasma contamination. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) mass spectrometry was used for proteome analysis. Biological and molecular functions, signaling pathways and protein-protein interactions were analyzed using free-access databases: PubMed, PANTHER, Gene Ontology, Swiss-Prot and KEGG. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were analyzed using the STRING database (version 10). Results: There were identified 589 proteins with significantly changed expression in CD133 + CSCs, as compared with CD133-DGCs (P  Conclusion: proteins of Wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade are a prospective target for regulating CSCs activity.