Search Results for: glioma genetic

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Aug-2014 Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair Putnam Valley, NY. (Aug. 6, 2014) Recent studies have shown that transplanting induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (iPS-NSCs) can promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents and non-human primates. However, a serious drawback to the transplantation of iPS-NSCs is the potential for tumor growth, or tumorogenesis, post-transplantation. In an effort to better understand this risk and find ways to prevent it, a team of Japanese researchers has completed a study in which they transplanted a human glioblastoma cell line into the intact spinal columns of laboratory mice that were either immunodeficient or immunocompetent and treated with or without immunosuppresant drugs. Bioluminescent imaging was used to track the transplanted cells as they were manipulated by immunorejection. The researchers found that the withdrawal of immunosuppressant drugs eliminated tumor growth and, in effect, created a 'safety lock' against tumor formation as an adverse outcome of cell transplantation. They also confirmed that withdrawal of immunosuppression led to rejection of tumors formed by transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural stem/progenitor cells (iPS-NP/SCs). Although the central nervous system has shown difficulty in … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Aug-2014 Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair Putnam Valley, NY. (Aug. 6, 2014) Recent studies have shown that transplanting induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (iPS-NSCs) can promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents and non-human primates. However, a serious drawback to the transplantation of iPS-NSCs is the potential for tumor growth, or tumorogenesis, post-transplantation. In an effort to better understand this risk and find ways to prevent it, a team of Japanese researchers has completed a study in which they transplanted a human glioblastoma cell line into the intact spinal columns of laboratory mice that were either immunodeficient or immunocompetent and treated with or without immunosuppresant drugs. Bioluminescent imaging was used to track the transplanted cells as they were manipulated by immunorejection. The researchers found that the withdrawal of immunosuppressant drugs eliminated tumor growth and, in effect, created a 'safety lock' against tumor formation as an adverse outcome of cell transplantation. They also confirmed that withdrawal of immunosuppression led to rejection of tumors formed by transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural stem/progenitor cells (iPS-NP/SCs). Although the central nervous system has shown difficulty in … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 1-Jun-2014 Contact: Sarah Avery sarah.avery@duke.edu 919-660-1306 Duke University Medical Center DURHAM, N.C. A collaborative effort between Duke Medicine researchers and neurosurgeons and scientists in China has produced new genetic insights into a rare and deadly form of childhood and young adult brain cancer called brainstem glioma. The researchers identified a genetic mutation in the tumor cells that plays a role in both the growth and the death of a cell. Additionally, the mutation to the newly identified gene may also contribute to the tumor's resistance to radiation. The findings, published online in the journal Nature Genetics on June 1, 2014, provide both immediate and long-term benefits. Knowing that this mutation may render radiation ineffective, patients could be spared that therapy. The mutation would also serve as a strong candidate for drug development. The researchers conducted genetic tests and found that many of the tumor cells had a mutation in a gene called PPM1D, which causes cells to proliferate and avoid natural death. It is the first time this mutation has been found to be a major driving force in the development of brainstem gliomas; it is not evident in other brain tumors. If tumors have this PPM1D … Continue reading →

Public release date: 15-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Michael C. Purdy purdym@wustl.edu 314-286-0122 Washington University School of Medicine Insights from a genetic condition that causes brain cancer are helping scientists better understand the most common type of brain tumor in children. In new research, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a cell growth pathway that is unusually active in pediatric brain tumors known as gliomas. They previously identified the same growth pathway as a critical contributor to brain tumor formation and growth in neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1), an inherited cancer predisposition syndrome. "This suggests that the tools we've been developing to diagnose and treat NF1 may also be helpful for sporadic brain tumors," says senior author David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor of Neurology. The findings appear Dec. 1 in Genes and Development. NF1 is among the most common tumor predisposition syndromes, but it accounts for only about 15 percent of pediatric low-grade gliomas known as pilocytic astrocytomas. The majority of these brain tumors occur sporadically in people without NF1. Earlier research showed that most sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas possess an abnormal form of a signaling protein known as … Continue reading →

Newswise People who carry a G instead of an A at a specific spot in the sequence of their genetic code have roughly a six-fold higher risk of developing certain types of brain tumors, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Mayo Clinic. The study was jointly led by geneticists Margaret Wrensch, PhD, and John Wiencke, PhD, professors in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF, and Robert Jenkins, MD, PhD, professor of Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and the Division of Laboratory Genetics at the Mayo Clinic. The findings, published on August 26, 2012 in the journal Nature Genetics, could help researchers identify people at risk of developing certain subtypes of gliomas, which account for about 4,600 of the 23,000 brain cancers newly diagnosed annually in the US.This information could lead to better surveillance, diagnosis and treatment. Based on their findings, the scientists already are starting to think about clinical tests that could tell patients with abnormal brain scans what kind of tumor they have, by simply testing their blood. Researchers still need to understand how the specific DNA change actually causes the tumors, said Wrensch, since … Continue reading →

DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- City of Hope was granted a $5,217,004 early translational research award by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support the development of a T cell-based immunotherapy that re-directs a patients own immune response against glioma stem cells. City of Hope has been awarded more than $49.7 million in grant support from CIRM since awards were first announced in 2006. City of Hope is a pioneer in T cell immunotherapy research, helping to develop genetically modified T cells as a treatment for cancer. This strategy, termed adoptive T cell therapy, focuses on redirecting a patients immune system to specifically target tumor cells, and has the potential to become a promising new approach for treatment of cancer. In this research, we are genetically engineering a central memory T cell that targets proteins expressed by glioma stem cells, said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and director of the T Cell Immunotherapy Research Laboratory. Central memory T cells have the potential to establish a persistent, lifelong immunity to help prevent brain tumors from recurring. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 22,000 people in the U.S. will … Continue reading →