Chronic stress accelerates glioblastoma progression via DRD2/ERK/β-catenin axis and Dopamine/ERK/TH positive feedback loop

BACKGROUND: After diagnosis, glioblastoma (GBM) patients undertake tremendous psychological problems such as anxiety and depression, which may contribute to GBM progression. However, systematic study about the relationship between depression and GBM progression is still lacking. METHODS: Chronic unpredictable mild stress and chronic restrain stress were used to mimic human depression in mice. Human GBM cells and intracranial GBM model were used to assess the effects of chronic stress on GBM growth. Targeted neurotransmitter sequencing, RNA-seq, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the related molecular mechanism. RESULTS: Chronic stress promoted GBM progression and up-regulated the level of dopamine (DA) and its receptor type 2 (DRD2) in tumor tissues. Down-regulation or inhibition of DRD2 abolished the promoting effect of chronic stress on GBM progression. Mechanistically, the elevated DA and DRD2 activated ERK1/2 and consequently inhibited GSK3β activity, leading to β-catenin activation. Meanwhile, the activated ERK1/2 up-regulated tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) level in GBM cells and then promoted DA secretion, forming an autocrine positive feedback loop. Remarkably, patients with high-depression exhibited high DRD2 and β-catenin levels, which showed poor prognosis. Additionally, DRD2 specific inhibitor pimozide combined with temozolomide synergistically inhibited GBM growth. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that chronic stress accelerates GBM progression via DRD2/ERK/β-catenin axis and Dopamine/ERK/TH positive feedback loop. DRD2 together with β-catenin may serve as a potential predictive biomarker for worse prognosis as well as therapeutic target of GBM patients with depression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-023-02728-8.