EGFR cooperates with EGFRvIII to recruit macrophages in glioblastoma

Amplification of the EGFR gene and its truncation mutant EGFRvIII are hallmarks of glioblastoma. Although co-expression of EGFR and EGFRvIII confers a growth advantage, how EGFR and EGFRvIII influence the tumor microenvironment remains incompletely understood. Here we show that EGFR and EGFRvIII cooperate to induce macrophage infiltration via upregulation of the chemokine CCL2. EGFRvIII was significantly enriched in glioblastoma patient samples with high CCL2, and knockout of CCL2 in tumors co-expressing EGFR and EGFRvIII led to decreased infiltration of macrophages. KRAS was a critical signaling intermediate for EGFR and EGFRvIII-induced expression of CCL2. Our results illustrate how EGFR and EGFRvIII direct the microenvironment in glioblastoma.

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