Fig. 7: Ferroptosis is associated with mesenchymal transition and shorter survivals in human GBMs.

a Gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) of ferroptosis-related genes as listed in Supplementary Fig. 7a using the TCGA GBM dataset; proneural (PN; n = 166 tumors) and mesenchymal (MES; n = 170 tumors). Nominal P-values and the false-discovery rate (FDR)⁵¹ are indicated. b GSEA of ferroptosis-related genes in GBM gene expression dataset obtained from Ivy GBM Atlas comparing cellular tumor peri-necrotic zone (denoted by CTpnz) and cellular tumor zone (denoted by CT). Nominal P-values and the false-discovery rate (FDR)⁵¹ are indicated. (n = 26 tumor samples for CTpnz; n = 111 tumor samples for CT). c Comparison of most enriched ferroptosis genes in the MES-GBM subtype and the CTpnz in GBM shows a marked overlap. d Representative image of chromogenic immunodetection of PTGS2 (a.k.a. COX2) in a formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded, human GBM brain section. The outlined areas are enlarged and shown on the bottom. Specimens from three different patients were examined independently with similar observations. e Survival analyses of GBM patients showing higher (top 25%) or lower (bottom 25%) expression of indicated genes. (TCGA or CGGA dataset was analyzed through GlioVis.) Log-rank P-value of each graph is shown. n indicates total number human subjects. f Survival analyses of GBM patients showing higher (top 25%) or lower (bottom 25%) expression of GPX4. (The IDH1 wild-type cohort TCGA dataset was analyzed through GlioVis.) Log-rank P-value is shown. n indicates total number human subjects. All scale bars are in μm.