Development of combined cellular and molecular target-directed therapies for glioblastoma

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26893096
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Neurosurgery
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Pyko Ilya 金沢大学, がん進展制御研究所, 研究員 (00731853)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-08-29 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: glioblastoma / temozolomide / mesenchymal stem cells / GSK 3β

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation benefits to treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) by enhancing anti-tumor effect in combination with GSK3β inhibitors and temozolomide (TMZ). Our experiments showed that transplantation of MSCs and GSK3β inhibition synergizes for treatment of experimental GBM and that MSCs co-cultured with GBM cells participate in regulation of GBM stemness similar to that observed under GSK3β inhibition. We also examined the interaction between patient-derived GBM stem-like cells and adipose tissue-derived MSCs in the presence and absence of GSK3β inhibition and TMZ and its influence on GBM stemness. We found that the interaction of MSCs with GBM stem-like cells is enhanced by a combined treatment by GSK3β inhibitor. These observations encouraged us to continue investigation of the biological mechanisms by which MSCs regulate GBM stemness under the control by GSK3β addressing the role of cell-to-cell interactions and local signals.

Free Research Field

Neuro-oncology