• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
CDE Almería – Centro de Documentación Europea – Universidad de Almería

CDE Almería - Centro de Documentación Europea - Universidad de Almería

Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería

  • HOME
  • WHAT´S ON
    • EU BULLETINS
    • EU NEWS
    • Activities
    • EU Calls and Awards
    • Radio Program «Europe with You»
  • DOCUMENTATION
    • Bibliographic Collection
      • Almería EDC Digital Collection
      • UNIVERSITY OF ALMERIA LIBRARY
    • Documentation by topic
    • EU Media Collection
      • Web Space
      • MEDIATHEQUE REPOSITORY
  • Europe on the net
    • Institutions
    • EU Representation in Spain
    • European information network of Andalusia
    • EU official journal
  • ABOUT US
    • Presentation
    • People
    • Contact
  • English
  • Spanish

New tools provide valuable insight into lethal brain tumour biology

Inicio » EU News » New tools provide valuable insight into lethal brain tumour biology

3 de February de 2021

Using new technology developed for their research into glioblastoma brain cancer, EU-backed researchers have shown how immune cells protect the tumour rather than the body.

Across the globe, about 240 000 people are diagnosed with brain and nervous system tumours every year. The most common and most lethal of these tumours is glioblastoma, a malignant type of cancer that begins in brain tissue and has no effective cure.

Scientists have thought it probable that the immune cells found inside the tumour are a major reason why glioblastoma is so difficult to treat. Evidence of this hypothesis has now been provided by researchers supported by the EU-funded iGBMavatars project. “We developed a new technology which allows us to visualize, on a molecular level, how the innate immune cells end up defending the tumor cells rather than body,” stated research team leader Dr Gaetano Gargiulo of Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association in a news release posted on the ‘EurekAlert!’ website.

Obstacles to treatment

Glioblastoma is notoriously very difficult to treat. “This is firstly because most cancer drugs can’t get across the blood-brain barrier,” explained Dr Gargiulo in the same news release. The blood-brain barrier is a semipermeable membrane around the brain that prevents harmful toxins or pathogens from entering it. Another reason is that there are multiple subtypes of glioblastoma. Furthermore, the tumour’s composition can change over time, particularly when it recurs after treatment has finished, often taking the form of a more aggressive and lethal subtype. “A better understanding of the glioblastoma subtype identities, and of what triggers their changes, could be a guide for developing new and more effective therapies,” observed first author Matthias Schmitt.

Designing reporter genes

Because of the heterogeneous nature of glioblastoma, an innovative strategy is needed for characterising brain tumour heterogeneity. Prompted by this need, the team created synthetic reporters — genes that are attached to a regulatory sequence of another gene for the purpose of detecting or measuring gene expression. The purpose of these reporters was to make the genetic tracing of tumour cell states possible. The researchers’ findings were published in the journal ‘Cancer Discovery’.

With their new technology, the research team have been able to gain insight into the brain tumour’s biological processes. “Within the tumor cells’ genome, we’ve identified the regulators that program each subtype signature,” explained co-author Yuliia Dramaretska in the news release. “We then turned these short DNA segments into molecular reporters that fluoresce when the cells change.” The team also identified what triggers the change in the cells of the different glioblastoma subtypes. Whereas proneural glioblastoma is described as ‘a hardwired identity’ in the study, mesenchymal glioblastoma was found to undergo a swift cell state change triggered by ionising radiation, but not hypoxia.

Future plans entail using the reporters to figure out how to prevent the immune cells from making the tumour cells more aggressive, according to Dr Gargiulo. “Perhaps we can also encourage them to recruit other immune cells that will help them fight the tumor,” he remarked in the news release. These plans will help to further the iGBMavatars (Glioblastoma Subtype Avatar models for Target Discovery and Biology) project’s goals to improve available treatments so as to enhance patients’ response to them and to lay the foundations for the discovery of new, more effective treatments.

More information

European Commission – CORDIS

Publicaciones relacionadas:

Can you teach an old dog new words? Yes, study finds Bypassing age verification measures on social media SARS-CoV-2 mutations thwart body’s killer cells Can life from Earth survive on a planet like Mars? Building urban resilience to climate change

“This is a space for debate. All comments, for or against publication, that are respectful and do not contain expressions that are discriminatory, defamatory or contrary to current legislation will be published”.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Publicaciones relacionadas


Can you teach an old dog new words? Yes, study finds


Bypassing age verification measures on social media


SARS-CoV-2 mutations thwart body’s killer cells


Can life from Earth survive on a planet like Mars?


Building urban resilience to climate change

Footer

Logotipo en negativo del Centro de Documentación Europea de Almería
  • CDE Almería
  • Edificio Parque Científico-Tecnológico (Pita)
  • Planta: 1ª, Despacho: 2904120.
  • Ctra. Sacramento s/n. Almería (Spain)
  • Teléfono: (+34) 950 015266

HOME
NEWS
DOCUMENTATION
EUROPE ON THE NET
ABOUT US

  • LEGAL NOTICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • COOKIE POLICY
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SITEMAP

Copyright © 2023 CDE Almería · Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

<p>El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. ajustes</p>

Politica de privacidad

El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. <a href="/politica-de-cookies" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Más información</a>

Cookies estrictamente necesarias

Las cookies estrictamente necesarias tiene que activarse siempre para que podamos guardar tus preferencias de ajustes de cookies.

Básicamente la web no funcionara bien si no las activas.

Estas cookies son:

  • Comprobación de inicio de sesión.
  • Cookies de seguridad.
  • Aceptación/rechazo previo de cookies.

Si desactivas esta cookie no podremos guardar tus preferencias. Esto significa que cada vez que visites esta web tendrás que activar o desactivar las cookies de nuevo.

Cookies de terceros

Esta web utiliza Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager y Yandex Metrika para recopilar información anónima tal como el número de visitantes del sitio, o las páginas más populares.

Dejar estas cookies activas nos permite mejorar nuestra web.

¡Por favor, activa primero las cookies estrictamente necesarias para que podamos guardar tus preferencias!

Política de cookies

Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. Más información