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Gliomas are the most common malignant primary brain tumor and are often associated with severe neurological deficits and mortality. Unlike many cancers, gliomas rarely metastasize outside the brain, indicating a possible dependency on unique features of brain microenvironment. Synapses between neurons and glioma cells exist, suggesting that glioma cells rely on neuronal inputs and synaptic signaling for proliferation. Yet, the locations and properties of neurons that innervate gliomas have remained elusive. In this study, we utilized transsynaptic tracing with an EnvA-pseudotyped, glycoprotein-deleted rabies virus to specifically infect TVA and glycoprotein-expressing human glioblastoma cells in an orthotopic xenograft mouse model, allowing us to identify the neurons that form synapses onto the gliomas. Comprehensive whole-brain mapping revealed that these glioma-innervating neurons (GINs) from brain regions, including diverse neuromodulatory centers and specific cortical layers, known to project to the glioma locations. Molecular profiling revealed that long-range cortical GINs are predominantly glutamatergic, and subsets express both glutamatergic and GABAergic markers, whereas local striatal GINs are largely GABAergic. Electrophysiological studies demonstrate that while GINs share passive intrinsic properties with cortex-innervating neurons, their action potential waveforms are altered. Our study introduces a method for identifying and mapping GINs and reveals their consistent integration into existing location-dependent neuronal networks involving diverse neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. The observed intrinsic electrophysiological differences in GINs lay the groundwork for future investigations into how these alterations relate to the postsynaptic characteristics of glioma cells., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:M.C.H. serves on the scientific advisory boards of Alixia, Minovia, and MitoQ and is on the editorial boards of Cell Metabolism and Molecular Cell. M.C.H. received research funding from Agilent Technologies and ReFuel Bio. M.C.H. is a consultant and founder of ReFuel Bio.

Progressive decline of the adaptive immune system with increasing age coincides with a sharp increase in cancer incidence. In this study, we set out to understand whether deficits in antitumor immunity with advanced age promote tumor progression and/or drive resistance to immunotherapy. We found that multiple syngeneic cancers grew more rapidly in aged versus young adult mice, driven by dysfunctional CD8+ T-cell responses. By systematically mapping immune cell profiles within tumors, we identified loss of tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cells as a primary feature accelerating the growth of tumors in aged mice and driving resistance to immunotherapy. When antigen-specific T cells from young adult mice were administered to aged mice, tumor outgrowth was delayed and the aged animals became sensitive to PD-1 blockade. These studies reveal how age-associated CD8+ T-cell dysfunction may license tumorigenesis in elderly patients and have important implications for the use of aged mice as preclinical models of aging and cancer., (©2024 The Authors; Published by the American Association for Cancer Research.)