Ex vivo glioblastoma migration phenotypes define clinical recurrence and tumor heterogeneity
- 1University of Minnesota
Abstract
Glioblastoma's pronounced migratory capacity underlies its diffuse invasion, presenting a formidable barrier to successful treatment. Ex vivo characterization of glioblastoma cells isolated from freshly resected clinical samples under physiologically relevant conditions revealed two distinct migratory phenotypes, Fast Migrating (FM) and Slow Migrating (SM). These phenotypes reflect distinct mechanosensitivity profiles and are associated with pharmacological responses that support the motor clutch model of cell migration. Analysis of genes associated with these phenotypes revealed a transcriptomic signature that closely associated with in vitro cell migration, histological invasion in patient specimens, and clinical survival. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing revealed that FM and SM cells coexist within a single glioblastoma, with FM cells enriched at the periphery and SM cells localized to the tumor core. Collectively, our study demonstrates the utility of ex vivo glioblastoma characterization, allowing decoding of tumor heterogeneity and clinical prognostication as well as providing a framework for deconvoluting the complex cancer phenotype.
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BibTeX
@misc{hou2026vivo,
title = {{Ex vivo glioblastoma migration phenotypes define clinical recurrence and tumor heterogeneity}},
author = {J. Hou and M. McMahon and A. Ni and Z. Wang and B. Taylor and T. Loe and Y. Xie and L. Chang and A. Gardeck and Z. Gokaslan and S. Dunsiger and B. Ren and C. Chen and D. J. Odde},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.31.748107},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748107v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Ex vivo glioblastoma migration phenotypes define clinical recurrence and tumor heterogeneity
AU - J. Hou
AU - M. McMahon
AU - A. Ni
AU - Z. Wang
AU - B. Taylor
AU - T. Loe
AU - Y. Xie
AU - L. Chang
AU - A. Gardeck
AU - Z. Gokaslan
AU - S. Dunsiger
AU - B. Ren
AU - C. Chen
AU - D. J. Odde
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.31.748107
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748107v1
AB - Glioblastoma's pronounced migratory capacity underlies its diffuse invasion, presenting a formidable barrier to successful treatment. Ex vivo characterization of glioblastoma cells isolated from freshly resected clinical samples under physiologically relevant conditions revealed two distinct migratory phenotypes, Fast Migrating (FM) and Slow Migrating (SM). These phenotypes reflect distinct mechanosensitivity profiles and are associated with pharmacological responses that support the motor clutch model of cell migration. Analysis of genes associated with these phenotypes revealed a transcriptomic signature that closely associated with in vitro cell migration, histological invasion in patient specimens, and clinical survival. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing revealed that FM and SM cells coexist within a single glioblastoma, with FM cells enriched at the periphery and SM cells localized to the tumor core. Collectively, our study demonstrates the utility of ex vivo glioblastoma characterization, allowing decoding of tumor heterogeneity and clinical prognostication as well as providing a framework for deconvoluting the complex cancer phenotype.
ER -