The emerging role of tumor-suppressive microRNA-218 in targeting glioblastoma stemness

•miRNAs are epigenetic regulators of glioblastoma stemness.•Aberrant expression of miR-218 can be observed in malignant gliomas.•Roles of miR-218 and its target genes in glioblastoma stemness are summarized.•The molecular mechanisms of miR-218 in targeting glioblastoma stemness are elucidated.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is by far the most common and most aggressive malignant primary tumor in humans and has poor outcomes despite many advances in treatment using combinations of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Recent studies demonstrate that GBM contains a subpopulation of cancer cells with stem cell characteristics, including self-renewal and multipotentiality, and that these cancer stem cells contribute to disease progression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding regulatory RNA molecules that regulate a variety of cellular processes, including stem cell maintenance. An accumulating body of evidence shows that miR-218 may act as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting glioblastoma invasion, migration, proliferation and stemness through its different targets, indicating the great potential and relevance of miR-218 as a novel class of therapeutic target in glioblastoma.