Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between the change of phenotype of glioma stem cells and the expression of RNA binding proteins in hypoxia. Methods Glioma stem cells (U87MG-SLC and GSC5) were cultured under normoxia (20%O2) and hypoxia (1%O2). Cell proliferation was measured by MTS assay and self-renewal ability was determined by tumorsphere formation assay. The expression of RNA binding proteins and stemness markers proteins were examined by Western blot and made statistics. Results The proliferation of glioma stem cells was inhibited and the self-renewal ability was promoted in hypoxia. Meanwhile, hypoxia significantly promoted the expression of HIF-1α and stemness markers.Under hypoxia, the expression of RNA binding proteins have changed. The expression of hnRNPF, UNRIP and HuD increased . Meanwhile the expression of PCBP2 and UNR was downregulated. But, other RNA binding proteins（hnRNPK, ADAR1, PCBP1, CIRP, EBP1, eEF1A,PTBP1,PTBP2）had no significant change. Conclusions The change of phenotype of glioma stem cells is related with the RNA binding proteins (hnRNPF,UNRIP,HuD,PCBP2 and UNR) in hypoxia.

Key words: hypoxia, glioma stem cell, RNA binding protein, proliferation, self-renewal ability