Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) sustains glioblastoma stemness and tumorigenic potential

Gliomas aberrantly express programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), which has a pivotal role in immunoevasion. The splicing isoform of FKBP5, termed FKBP51s, is a PD-L1 foldase, assisting the immune checkpoint molecule in maturation and expression on the plasma membrane. The concept that PD-L1 supports tumor-intrinsic properties is increasingly emerging. Our findings confirm the pro-tumoral effect of PD-L1 on human glioma cell survival, stemness capacity and resistance, and show how, by targeting FKBP51s PD-L1 and its pro-tumoral properties could be hampered, thereby affecting the self-renewal and growth capacities of glioblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo