APOE

Overview

APOE (apolipoprotein E) is a lipid transport protein highly expressed in astrocytes and microglia in the normal brain. In oligodendroglioma, APOE marks the differentiated astro-like tumor cell compartment and is a component of the lineage hierarchy identified by single-cell transcriptomics.

Alterations observed in the corpus

• APOE (together with ALDOC, SOX9, and GFAP) marks the differentiated astro-like compartment in grade II IDH-mutant 1p/19q-codeleted oligodendroglioma; identified from scRNA-seq of 4,347 cells across 6 tumors PMID:27806376.

Cancer types (linked)

• ODG — APOE expression defines the astro-like differentiated sub-population in oligodendroglioma; these cells are largely non-cycling and distinct from the proliferative stem/progenitor compartment PMID:27806376.

Co-occurrence and mutual exclusivity

• APOE co-expresses with ALDOC, SOX9, and GFAP in astro-like tumor cells; mutually exclusive with the stem/progenitor program (ASCL1, CHD7, CCND2) and the oligo-like program PMID:27806376.

Therapeutic relevance

• Not directly therapeutically targeted in the corpus; the APOE-high astro-like cells are largely non-cycling and considered unlikely to drive long-term tumor growth PMID:27806376.

Open questions

• Whether APOE expression in oligodendroglioma influences tumor microenvironment lipid metabolism or immune cell function is not addressed in the corpus.

Sources

• PMID:27806376

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