Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM), a highly aggressive primary brain tumor originating in glial cells, poses a significant challenge due to its rapid growth and invasive nature within healthy brain tissue.
Current treatments involve surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation. These treatments alone are not enough to cure this disease, and a better understanding of the mechanics of the tumor's micro-environment is imperative to furthering the field of cancer research. This research focuses on understanding the tumor microenvironment's impact, specifically investigating the role of stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) mechanics on GBM aggressiveness. SDF-1 is known to facilitate disease progression by facilitating chemotaxis toward the sub-ventricular zone (SVZ). GBM cells reaching this area of the brain represents a major event that when prevented stands to significantly increase the survival of the patient. The presence of SDF-1 confers GBM cells the ability to transition into a mesenchymal state. This pro-neural to mesenchymal transition (PMT) is known to be a marker of a more aggressive tumor phenotype. Preliminary experiments explore SDF-1 effects on gene expression over five days, utilizing western blot quantification. The overall project has elucidated mechanisms driving GBM's invasive behavior, showing that gene products such as ZEB-1, which is known to facilitate PMT, are unregulated in the presence of SDF-1. These preliminary and future experiments have provided valuable insights for developing targeted therapeutic strategies.
Recommended Citation
Froman-Glover, Charles T.
(2024)
"SDF-1α Mediates Primary Tumor Escape in Glioblastoma Through Activation of Mesenchymal Transitions,"
The Cardinal Edge: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 9.
Available at:
https://ir.library.louisville.edu/tce/vol2/iss1/9
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