Transcription factor YY1 mediates self-renewal of glioblastoma stem cells through regulation of the SENP1/METTL3/MYC axis

Glioma is a primary brain tumor with limited treatment approaches and glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) are manifested with the self-renewal capability and high tumorigenic capacity. This study was performed to investigate the regulatory effect of the SUMO-specific protease 1 (SENP1)/methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3)/MYC axis on the self-renewal of GSCs mediated by transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1). Following bioinformatics analysis and clinical and cellular experiments, we found that YY1 was highly expressed in GBM tissues and cells, while silencing its expression reduced the self-renewal ability of GSCs. Functionally, YY1 promoted the transcriptional expression of SENP1 by binding to the promoter region of SENP1, while the deSUMOase SENP1 facilitated the methylase activity of m6A through deSUMOylation of the methylase METTL3, thereby promoting the m6A modification of MYC mRNA via METL3 and promoting the expression of MYC. A nude mouse xenograft model of GBM was also constructed to examine the tumorigenicity of GSCs. The obtained findings demonstrated that YY1 promoted tumorigenicity of GSCs by promoting the expression of MYC in vivo. Conclusively, YY1 can transcriptionally upregulate the SUMOylase SENP1 and enhance the methylase activity of METTL3, resulting in the increased m6A modification level of MYC mRNA, thereby promoting the self-renewal of GSCs.