Summary Glioblastomas are lethal cancers characterized by florid angiogenesis promoted in part by glioma stem cells (GSCs). As hypoxia regulates angiogenesis, we examined hypoxic responses in GSCs. We now demonstrate that hypoxia-inducible factor HIF2α and multiple HIF-regulated genes are preferentially expressed in GSCs in comparison to nonstem tumor cells and normal neural progenitors. In tumor specimens, HIF2α co-localizes with cancer stem cell markers. Targeting HIFs in GSCs inhibits self-renewal, proliferation and survival in vitro, and attenuates tumor initiation potential of GSCs in vivo. Analysis of a molecular database reveals that HIF2A expression correlates with poor glioma patient survival. Our results demonstrate that GSCs differentially respond to hypoxia with distinct HIF induction patterns and HIF2α may represent a promising target for anti-glioblastoma therapies. Significance Recent evidence supports the presence of cancer stem cell populations that contribute to tumor progression through preferential resistance to radiation and chemotherapy, and promotion of tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Therefore, the elucidation of molecular regulators of cancer stem cells may translate into improved anti-neoplastic therapies. Our work demonstrates that cancer stem cells derived from glioblastomas differentially respond to hypoxia with a distinct induction of HIF2α. We find that HIFs are critical to cancer stem cell maintenance and angiogenic drive, and that expression of HIF2α is significantly associated with poor glioma patient survival. These data further suggest that anti-angiogenic therapies can be designed to target cancer stem cell specific molecules involved in neoangiogenesis, including HIF2α and its regulated factors.

Tissues with defined cellular hierarchies in development and homeostasis give rise to tumors with cellular hierarchies, suggesting that tumors recapitulate specific tissues and mimic their origins. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most prevalent and malignant primary brain tumor and contains self-renewing, tumorigenic cancer stem cells (CSCs) that contribute to tumor initiation and therapeutic resistance. As normal stem and progenitor cells participate in tissue development and repair, these developmental programs re-emerge in CSCs to support the development and progressive growth of tumors. Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that govern CSCs has informed the development of novel targeted therapeutics for GBM and other brain cancers. CSCs are not self-autonomous units; rather, they function within an ecological system, both actively remodeling the microenvironment and receiving critical maintenance cues from their niches. To fulfill the future goal of developing novel therapies to collapse CSC dynamics, drawing parallels to other normal and pathological states that are highly interactive with their microenvironments and that use developmental signaling pathways will be beneficial.