- Zhang, Liguo;
- He, Xuelian;
- Liu, Xuezhao;
- Zhang, Feng;
- Huang, L Frank;
- Potter, Andrew S;
- Xu, Lingli;
- Zhou, Wenhao;
- Zheng, Tao;
- Luo, Zaili;
- Berry, Kalen P;
- Pribnow, Allison;
- Smith, Stephanie M;
- Fuller, Christine;
- Jones, Blaise V;
- Fouladi, Maryam;
- Drissi, Rachid;
- Yang, Zeng-Jie;
- Gustafson, W Clay;
- Remke, Marc;
- Pomeroy, Scott L;
- Girard, Emily J;
- Olson, James M;
- Morrissy, A Sorana;
- Vladoiu, Maria C;
- Zhang, Jiao;
- Tian, Weidong;
- Xin, Mei;
- Taylor, Michael D;
- Potter, S Steven;
- Roussel, Martine F;
- Weiss, William A;
- Lu, Q Richard
Progenitor heterogeneity and identities underlying tumor initiation and relapse in medulloblastomas remain elusive. Utilizing single-cell transcriptomic analysis, we demonstrated a developmental hierarchy of progenitor pools in Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastomas, and identified OLIG2-expressing glial progenitors as transit-amplifying cells at the tumorigenic onset. Although OLIG2+ progenitors become quiescent stem-like cells in full-blown tumors, they are highly enriched in therapy-resistant and recurrent medulloblastomas. Depletion of mitotic Olig2+ progenitors or Olig2 ablation impeded tumor initiation. Genomic profiling revealed that OLIG2 modulates chromatin landscapes and activates oncogenic networks including HIPPO-YAP/TAZ and AURORA-A/MYCN pathways. Co-targeting these oncogenic pathways induced tumor growth arrest. Together, our results indicate that glial lineage-associated OLIG2+ progenitors are tumor-initiating cells during medulloblastoma tumorigenesis and relapse, suggesting OLIG2-driven oncogenic networks as potential therapeutic targets.