IDH1-R132H mutation radiosensitizes U87MG glioma cells via epigenetic downregulation of TIGAR.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) is the most frequently mutated gene in World Health Organization grade II-III and secondary glioma. The majority of IDH1 mutation cases involve the substitution from arginine to histidine at codon 132 (IDH1-R132H). Although the oncogenic role of IDH1-R132H has been confirmed, patients with IDH1-R132H brain tumors exhibit a better response to radiotherapy compared with those with wild-type (WT) IDH1. In the present study, the potential mechanism of radiosensitization mediated by IDH1-R132H was investigated by overexpressing IDH1-R132H in U87MG glioma cells. The results demonstrated decreased clonogenic capacity of IDH1-R132H-expressing cells, as well as delayed repair of DNA double-strand breaks compared with IDH1-WT. Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas were analyzed, which demonstrated that the expression of TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) was lower in patients with glioma harboring IDH1 mutations compared with that in patients with IDH1-WT. TIGAR-knockdown increases the radiosensitivity of glioma cells; in U87MG cells, IDH1-R132H suppressed TIGAR expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed increased levels of repressive H3K9me3 markers at the TIGAR promoter in IDH1-R132H compared with IDH1-WT. These data indicated that IDH1-R132H may overcome radioresistance in glioma cells through epigenetic suppression of TIGAR expression. However, these favorable effects were not observed in U87MG glioma stem-like cells. The results of the present study provide an improved understanding of the functionality of IDH1 mutations in glioma cells, which may improve the therapeutic efficacy of radiotherapy.