EAPSI: The Activation of Brain Immunology on Glioblastoma Cancer Tumors

脑癌是最致命的癌症形式之一，由于诊断和治疗的困难。通常用于治疗脑癌的治疗方法包括手术、化疗和放射治疗。最近，免疫疗法已被用于临床试验，对脑癌细胞的身体？人自身的免疫系统可以针对癌症肿瘤。大脑作为中枢神经系统的一部分，有自己的免疫系统，免疫细胞被称为小胶质细胞。小胶质细胞活化被认为有助于调节大脑活动和大脑修复。本项目将研究胶质母细胞瘤、脑癌肿瘤中小胶质细胞活化的生物学。该项目将与韩国大田忠南国立大学的Dong Woon Kim博士合作进行。这项合作提供了对独特数据的访问，这些数据将使人们对胶质母细胞瘤和免疫学有新的见解。小胶质细胞活化允许大脑对疾病或感染因子的免疫应答;然而，对胶质母细胞瘤上小胶质细胞活化的生物学进行了有限的研究。该项目将专注于使用小胶质细胞激活胶质母细胞瘤以及更具抗性的胶质母细胞瘤群体，称为胶质母细胞瘤干细胞。通过胶质母细胞瘤细胞与小胶质细胞的组合培养，将通过基因表达观察小胶质细胞活化。此外，将在小胶质细胞活化下测试胶质母细胞瘤干细胞表达。该项目将允许更好地了解胶质母细胞瘤的脑免疫学，并作为更好的癌症治疗的潜在帮助。东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划下的这个奖项支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和韩国国家研究基金会共同资助。

Brain cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer due to the difficulties involved in diagnosis and treatment. Treatments typically used against brain cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. More recently, immunotherapy has been used in clinical trials against brain cancer cells where the body?s own immune system can target cancer tumors. The brain, as part of the central nervous system, has its own immune system with immune cells known as microglia cells. Microglia cell activation has been seen to aid in regulating brain activity and brain repair. This project will investigate the biology of microglia cell activation on glioblastoma brain cancer tumors. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Dong Woon Kim at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, South Korea. This collaboration provides access to unique data that will enable new insights into glioblastoma and immunology. Microglia cell activation allows for immune response of the brain toward diseased or infectious agents; however, limited research has been performed on the biology of microglia activation on glioblastoma. This project will focus on using microglial activation on glioblastoma as well as the more resistant glioblastoma population known as glioblastoma stem cells. By the combined culture of glioblastoma cells with microglia cells, microglia cell activation will be observed through gene expression. Furthermore, glioblastoma stem cell expression will be tested under microglia activation. This project will allow for greater understanding of brain immunology in glioblastoma and as a potential aid in better cancer therapies. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Korea.