RP58 Represses Transcriptional Programs Linked to Nonneuronal Cell Identity and Glioblastoma Subtypes in Developing Neurons

How mammalian neuronal identity is progressively acquired and reinforced during development is not understood. We have previously shown that loss of RP58 (ZNF238 or ZBTB18), a BTB/POZ-zinc finger-containing transcription factor, in the mouse brain leads to microcephaly, corpus callosum agenesis, and cerebellum hypoplasia and that it is required for normal neuronal differentiation. The transcriptional programs regulated by RP58 during this process are not known. Here, we report for the first time that in embryonic mouse neocortical neurons a complex set of genes normally expressed in other cell types, such as those from mesoderm derivatives, must be actively repressed in vivo and that RP58 is a critical regulator of these repressed transcriptional programs. Importantly, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) analyses of these transcriptional programs indicate that repressed genes include distinct sets of genes significantly associated with glioma progression and/or pluripotency. We also demonstrate that reintroducing RP58 in glioma stem cells leads not only to aspects of neuronal differentiation but also to loss of stem cell characteristics, including loss of stem cell markers and decrease in stem cell self-renewal capacities. Thus, RP58 acts as an in vivo master guardian of the neuronal identity transcriptome, and its function may be required to prevent brain disease development, including glioma progression.

Automated summary

RP58 plays a crucial role in neuronal differentiation in the mouse brain and is involved in regulating transcriptional programs in embryonic neocortical neurons, including the repression of genes associated with glioma progression and pluripotency. Reintroducing RP58 into glioma stem cells not only promotes aspects of neuronal differentiation, but also decreases stem cell characteristics, suggesting that RP58 may be a key factor in preventing brain diseases such as glioma progression.