Downregulated CLIP3 induces radioresistance by enhancing stemness and glycolytic flux in glioblastoma

BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a malignant primary brain tumor in which the standard treatment, ionizing radiation (IR), achieves a median survival of about 15 months. GBM harbors glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs), which play a crucial role in therapeutic resistance and recurrence. METHODS: Patient-derived GSCs, GBM cell lines, intracranial GBM xenografts, and GBM sections were used to measure mRNA and protein expression and determine the related molecular mechanisms by qRT-PCR, immunoblot, immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, OCR, ECAR, live-cell imaging, and immunohistochemistry. Orthotopic GBM xenograft models were applied to investigate tumor inhibitory effects of glimepiride combined with radiotherapy. RESULTS: We report that GSCs that survive standard treatment radiation upregulate Speedy/RINGO cell cycle regulator family member A (Spy1) and downregulate CAP-Gly domain containing linker protein 3 (CLIP3, also known as CLIPR-59). We discovered that Spy1 activation and CLIP3 inhibition coordinately shift GBM cell glucose metabolism to favor glycolysis via two cellular processes: transcriptional regulation of CLIP3 and facilitating Glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) trafficking to cellular membranes in GBM cells. Importantly, in combination with IR, glimepiride, an FDA-approved medication used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, disrupts GSCs maintenance and suppresses glycolytic activity by restoring CLIP3 function. In addition, combining radiotherapy and glimepiride significantly reduced GBM growth and improved survival in a GBM orthotopic xenograft mouse model. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that radioresistant GBM cells exhibit enhanced stemness and glycolytic activity mediated by the Spy1-CLIP3 axis. Thus, glimepiride could be an attractive strategy for overcoming radioresistance and recurrence by rescuing CLIP3 expression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-021-02077-4.