TSPO Gene Polymorphism is Associated with Poor Survival in Male Glioblastoma Patients

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults, with an average five-year survival rate of 7.2%. The tumor incidence is 1.6 times higher in males than females. Six reasons attributed for an unfavorable prognosis in GBM have been depicted in figure 1. The translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) , previously known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor , is located in the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM).

TSPO plays a crucial role in most mitochondrial physiological processes like mitochondrial respiration, metabolism, cellular bioenergetics, cholesterol transport, and steroid and heme biosynthesis. TSPO is expressed at low levels in the normal brain neuropil. However, TSPO overexpression is observed following nervous system damage and neuroinflammation, thereby highlighting the role of TSPO as a sensitive neuroinflammatory biomarker. According to a recent study…