Glioblastoma multiforme: a perspective on recent findings in human cancer and mouse models

Abstract

Gliomas are the most frequently occurring primary malignancies in the central nervous system, and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive of these tumors. Despite vigorous basic and clinical studies over past decades, the median survival of patients with this disease remains at about one year. Recent studies have suggested that GBMs contain a subpopulation of tumor cells that displays stem cell characteristics and could therefore be responsible for in vivo tumor growth. We will summarize the major oncogenic pathways abnormally regulated in gliomas, and review the recent findings from mouse models that our laboratory as well as others have developed for the study of GBM. The concept of cancer stem cells in GBM and their potential therapeutic importance will also be discussed.

Emerging insights into the molecular and cellular basis of glioblastoma

“…Already there are several efforts to connect the information obtained from retrospective, population-based genomic characterization to the individual patient in the form of multiplexed patient profiling on clinical samples (MacConaill et al 2009;Sequist et al 2011). Further work will be necessary to fully understand glioblastoma biology and will increasingly require integrated studies, including genomics, faithful animal models of disease (Lim et al 2011;Wee et al 2012), and the careful study of human tissue.…”

Tricetin suppresses the migration/invasion of human glioblastoma multiforme cells by inhibiting matrix metalloproteinase-2 through modulation of the expression and transcriptional activity of specificity protein 1

“…These cells were shown to contain a subpopulation of tumor cells that displayed stem cell characteristics and could therefore be responsible for tumor growth in vivo [24]. In this study, the human GBM 8401 cell line was purchased from the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (Hsinchu, Taiwan), while the U87 cell line was purchased from American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA, USA).…”

Adult, embryonic and fetal hemoglobin are expressed in human glioblastoma cells

“…Despite aggressive multimodality treatments, GBM is characterized by a very poor prognosis with median survival rate of about one year (16). The capability of GBM cells to infiltrate surrounding normal tissues (17), along with unidentified glial defence mechanisms due to expression of unknown protectant molecules, makes curative treatment by surgery, radiation and chemotherapies difficult, if not impossible.…”