Adenovirus-mediated wild-type PTEN promoting glioma stem/progenitor cellsautophagy activity

Background PTEN is an anti-oncogene frequently inactivating in glioma. The previous study found that PTEN was closely related to cellular autophagy activity. The purpose of this paper is to study whether the inactivation of PTEN in glioma stem/progenitor cells (GSPCs) is correlativewith the low autophagic activity in GSPCs. Methods Wild-type PTEN genes were transferred into GSPCs mediated by adenovirus. The autophagic activity in GSPCs before or after the introduction of wild-type PTEN was detected by immunocytochemistry, electron microscopy, and Western blotting assay. Results After transfection of wild-type PTEN, a large number of microtuble-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1LC3)-positive granules could be found in the cytoplasm of GSPCs under a confocal microscopy, and these granules were demonstrated to be autophagosomes under an electron microscope. Moreover, the expression of autophagy-related gene Beclin-1 significantly increased after the transfection of wild-type PTEN gene. Conclusion The inactivation of PTEN in GSPCs is one reason of the low autophagic activity of GSPCs.