CD47 stabilizes ROBO2 to regulate glioblastoma progression by preventing ITCH-mediated ubiquitination

CD47 is an innate immune checkpoint that inhibits phagocytosis by myeloid cells, contributing to immune evasion by cancer cells. CD47-blocking antibodies have limited efficacy in glioblastoma (GBM), and the cell-intrinsic role of CD47 is poorly understood. In this study, we show that CD47 is highly expressed at the invasive edge of GBM tumors, and its elevated expression correlates with poor patient survival. We demonstrate that CD47 loss impairs GBM cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, independent of immune activity, and leads to reduced tumor burden and prolonged survival in vivo. Our study identifies ROBO2 signaling as a key downstream effector of CD47 and demonstrates that loss of ROBO2 similarly reduces GBM cell proliferation and migration. Importantly, we have uncovered that CD47 stabilizes ROBO2 by sequestering the E3 ubiquitin ligase ITCH, thereby blocking ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of ROBO2. These findings establish CD47 as a key regulator of GBM cell plasticity and highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting CD47<b>-</b>ROBO2 signaling in GBM.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-03-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2602460123
Primary Topic
Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

CD47 stabilizes ROBO2 to regulate glioblastoma progression by preventing ITCH-mediated ubiquitination

Melinda Nay Tea, Chloé Shard, Darren J. Creek, Ruhi Polara et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
article

CD47 stabilizes ROBO2 to regulate glioblastoma progression by preventing ITCH-mediated ubiquitination

Melinda Nay Tea, Chloé Shard, Darren J. Creek, Ruhi Polara, Olivia Morris-Hanon, Stuart Maxwell Pitson, Paul A.B. Moretti, Nirmal Robinson, Briony L. Gliddon, Sakthi Lenin, Chung Hoow Kok, John Toubia, Lorena T. Davies, Raja Ganesan, Ghizal Siddiqui, Alexander H. Staudacher, Danièl Thomas, Guillermo A. Gomez, Michael P. Brown, Dung A. Nguyen
article en

Abstract

CD47 is an innate immune checkpoint that inhibits phagocytosis by myeloid cells, contributing to immune evasion by cancer cells. CD47-blocking antibodies have limited efficacy in glioblastoma (GBM), and the cell-intrinsic role of CD47 is poorly understood. In this study, we show that CD47 is highly expressed at the invasive edge of GBM tumors, and its elevated expression correlates with poor patient survival. We demonstrate that CD47 loss impairs GBM cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, independent of immune activity, and leads to reduced tumor burden and prolonged survival in vivo. Our study identifies ROBO2 signaling as a key downstream effector of CD47 and demonstrates that loss of ROBO2 similarly reduces GBM cell proliferation and migration. Importantly, we have uncovered that CD47 stabilizes ROBO2 by sequestering the E3 ubiquitin ligase ITCH, thereby blocking ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of ROBO2. These findings establish CD47 as a key regulator of GBM cell plasticity and highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting CD47<b>-</b>ROBO2 signaling in GBM.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(13)
Royal Adelaide Hospital (AU), UCL Australia (AU), Institut thématique Génétique, génomique et bioinformatique (FR), Cancer Clinic (US), South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (AU), Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging Associated Diseases (DE), Centre for Cancer Biology (AU), The University of Adelaide (AU), Monash Institute of Medical Research (AU)
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Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
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