A fetal oncogene NUAK2 is an emerging target in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most prevalent and highly malignant form of adult brain cancer characterized by poor overall survival rates. Effective therapeutic modalities remain limited, necessitating the need for novel treatments. Neurodevelopmental pathways have been implicated in glioma formation, with key neurodevelopmental regulators being re-expressed or co-opted during glioma tumorigenesis. Here we identified a serine/threonine kinase, NUAK family kinase 2 (NUAK2), as a fetal oncogene in mouse and human brains. We found robust expression of NUAK2 in the embryonic brain that decreases throughout postnatal stages and then is re-expressed in malignant gliomas. However, the role of NUAK2 in GBM tumorigenesis remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that CRIPSR-Cas9 mediated NUAK2 deletion in GBM cells results in suppression of proliferation and migration, while overexpression leads to enhanced proliferation and migration in both in vitro and in vivo models. Further investigation of the downstream biological processes dysregulated in the absence of NUAK2 reveals that NUAK2 modulates extracellular matrix (ECM) components to facilitate migratory behavior. Lastly, we determined that pharmaceutical inhibition of NUAK2 is sufficient to impede the proliferation and migration of malignant glioma cells. Our results suggest that NUAK2 is an actionable therapeutic target for GBM treatment.