Methylation dependent down-regulation of G0S2 leads to suppression of invasion and improved prognosis of IDH1-mutant glioma

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations are a prognostic factor in diffuse glioma. However, the mechanism by which these mutations improve prognosis are not clear. In a subset of IDH-mutant glioma, remodeling of the methylome results in the glioma-CpG island methylator phenotype (G-CIMP) and transcriptional reorganization. In this study, we focus on G0/G1 switch 2 (G0S2), which is highly downregulated in G-CIMP glioma. We found that G0S2 expression tended to increase as the WHO grade increased, and G0S2 knockdown inhibited glioma invasion. Additionally, we revealed that the overexpression of the DNA demethylase Ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) in IDH1-plasmid transfected glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells restored G0S2 expression. These results indicate that G0S2 is epigenetically silenced in IDH1-mutant glioma. In addition, the stereotactic delivery of glioma cells with decreased G0S2 expression in the mouse brain resulted in prolonged survival. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) analysis also indicated that survival is longer in the lower G0S2 expression group than in the higher G0S2 expression group. Moreover, G0S2 expression was higher in recurrent tumor specimens than at the initial diagnosis in the same patient. These results provide one explanation for the improved survival in IDH1-mutant glioma as well as a new epigenetic target for glioma treatment.