LAB-STEM CELLS

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

INTRODUCTION: Recent evidence suggests that glioblastoma is driven by a subset of tumor initiating (TI) cells characterized by their capacity to form tumors in xenograft models and self-renew in vitro. These TI cells share many properties of neural stem/progenitor cells, including the expression of certain cell surface markers. With serial passage, many cells lose their capacity to TI. The transition between TI-proficient and - deficient states remains poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: There are two theoretic models for the maintenance of TI states. In the “elite” model, TI activity is restricted to a predetermined subpopulation of cells. The alternative “stochastic” model suggests that any tumor cell has a finite chance of acquiring TI capacity through random fluctuations in cell physiology. To address this issue, we examined the TI capacity of distinct subclones isolated from a distinct glioblastoma line as well as the TI capacity of single cells derived from each distinct clone. We found that only a subset of subclones from a single glioblastoma line displayed capacity for TI, suggestive of the elite model. However, single cells derived from any single subclone exhibited a wide range of TI capacity, suggesting a stochastic component to this process. Transcriptome profiling of the subclones of differing TI revealed a gene signature associated with TI capacity. Analysis

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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