Wang Yanfei, Shen Langping, Sun Mingzhong
Laboratory Department, Yancheng Third People's Hospital, Yancheng 224008, China.
Curr Cancer Drug Targets. 2025;25(6):636-647. doi: 10.2174/0115680096275291231226081320.
We aimed to explore the role of urotensin 2 (UTS2) in glioblastoma (GBM).
GBM is the most malignant primary brain cancer with a poor prognosis. Previous studies have suggested that GBM vessels undergo dynamic remodeling modulated by tumor vasodilation and vasoconstriction instead of tumor angiogenesis.
Here, we have first investigated the expression and function of UTS2, a potent vasoconstrictor, in GBM.
The mRNA expression profiles and clinical information of GBM patients were obtained from the TCGA database. The clinical relevance of UTS2 was explored by the Mann-Whitney U test and Cox hazard regression survival test. We further explored the role of UTS2 in GBM cell proliferation, migration, and tumor immune microenvironment. Moreover, we established the in vivo mice model to validate its oncogenic effects on GBM progression.
Although we did not find significant correlations between UTS2 expression and patients' clinical characteristics, UTS2 was identified as a valid independent prognostic indicator according to multivariate survival analysis. Knockdown of UTS2 resulted in decreased GBM cell proliferation and migration. In addition, functional enrichment analysis implied UTS2 to be involved in the regulation of the immune microenvironment. studies showed that UTS2 knockdown suppressed GBM xenograft growth, highlighting the tumor-promoting effects of UTS2 on GBM.
Our study identified that UTS2 could predict the prognosis of GBM patients and provided evidence regarding its oncogenic effects both and .
我们旨在探讨尾加压素2（UTS2）在胶质母细胞瘤（GBM）中的作用。
GBM是最恶性的原发性脑癌，预后较差。先前的研究表明，GBM血管经历由肿瘤血管舒张和血管收缩调节的动态重塑，而非肿瘤血管生成。
在此，我们首次研究了强效血管收缩剂UTS2在GBM中的表达和功能。
从TCGA数据库获取GBM患者的mRNA表达谱和临床信息。通过曼-惠特尼U检验和Cox风险回归生存检验探讨UTS2的临床相关性。我们进一步探究了UTS2在GBM细胞增殖、迁移和肿瘤免疫微环境中的作用。此外，我们建立了体内小鼠模型以验证其对GBM进展的致癌作用。
尽管我们未发现UTS2表达与患者临床特征之间存在显著相关性，但根据多因素生存分析，UTS2被确定为有效的独立预后指标。敲低UTS2导致GBM细胞增殖和迁移减少。此外，功能富集分析表明UTS2参与免疫微环境的调节。研究表明，敲低UTS2可抑制GBM异种移植瘤生长，突出了UTS2对GBM的促肿瘤作用。
我们的研究确定UTS2可预测GBM患者的预后，并提供了关于其在体内和体外致癌作用的证据。
