APOBEC3B is expressed in human glioma, and influences cell proliferation and temozolomide resistance

Abstract

Highly malignant gliomas are characterized by pronounced intra- and intertumoral heterogeneity. On the genetic level, this heterogeneity may be caused by spontaneous mutation events, but recent studies have reported distinct mutational signatures that may be caused by an enzyme family with cytidine desaminase activity, the apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) proteins. Among these, APOBEC3B contributes to tumor progression in a variety of types of tumor, including breast cancer. In the present study, the expression of APOBEC3B was detected at the mRNA and protein levels in solid human glioma tissue and human glioma cell lines. In vitro, treatment with temozolomide, the most commonly used chemotherapeutic in glioma therapy, induced APOBEC3B expression. Furthermore, the knockdown of APOBEC3B by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9 resulted in reduced proliferation and enhanced chemosensitivity of glioma cells. Thus, APOBEC3B contributes to glioma progression and may be a future target for therapeutic intervention.