Coexpression network analysis identifies transcriptional modules related to proastrocytic differentiation and sprouty signaling in glioma

Gliomas are primary brain tumors with high mortality and heterogeneous biology that is insufficiently understood. In this study, we performed a systematic analysis of the intrinsic organization of complex glioma transcriptome to gain deeper knowledge of the tumor biology. Gene coexpression relationships were explored in 790 glioma samples from 5 published patient cohorts treated at different institutions. We identified 20 coexpression modules that were common to all the data sets and associated with proliferation, angiogenesis, hypoxia, immune response, genomic alterations, cell differentiation phenotypes, and other features inherent to glial tumors. A collection of high-quality signatures for the respective processes was obtained using cross-data set summarization of the modules' gene composition. Individual modules were found to be organized into higher order coexpression groups, the two largest of them associated with glioblastoma and oligodendroglioma, respectively. We identified a novel prognostic gene expression signature (185 genes) linked to a proastrocytic pattern of tumor cell differentiation. This "proastrocytic" signature was associated with long survival and defined a subgroup of the previously established "proneural" class of gliomas. A strong negative correlation between proastrocytic and proneural markers across differentiated tumors underscored the distinction between these subtypes of glioma. Interestingly, one further novel signature in glioma was identified that was associated with EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) gene amplification and suggested that EGF signaling in glioma may be a subject to regulation by Sprouty family proteins. In summary, this integrated analysis of the glioma transcriptome provided several novel insights into molecular heterogeneity and pathogenesis of glial tumors.