The pathophysiology of malignant glioma and treatment strategies

我们在恶性胶质瘤细胞生物学分析方面进行了三个课题的研究；1. 恶性胶质瘤细胞中高表达细胞因子的鉴定及功能分析。2. 神经胶质瘤细胞恶性肿瘤相关基因和蛋白的分子鉴定。3. 胶质瘤肿瘤干细胞的表征。我们发现MCP-1和IL-6等细胞因子在恶性胶质瘤细胞中过表达，并参与恶性胶质瘤细胞的增殖或侵袭。我们采用DNA微阵列、DNA尖端和蛋白质混合等方法对胶质瘤细胞恶性相关基因进行了分析。但这些基因是否参与胶质瘤细胞恶性信号的传递还有待进一步研究。我们已经证实，从神经胶质瘤患者身上培养的神经胶质瘤干细胞有可能在小鼠的大脑中生长，并一直在研究对化疗或放疗等肿瘤治疗的耐药性。基于这些研究的新发现，我们一直在探索新的分子靶向治疗方法，如阻断自体细胞因子环，抑制恶性胶质瘤细胞的激活信号。此外，我们一直在尝试建立一种利用纳米技术通过血脑屏障输送药物的新技术。该方法在胶质瘤患者的临床治疗中的应用有待进一步研究。

We have been investigating for three subjects in analysis of malignant glioma cell biology; 1. Identification and functional analysis of cytokines high expressing in malignant glioma cells. 2. Molecular identification of genes and proteins contributing to malignancy in glioma cells. 3. Characterization of glioma cancer stem cells. We have found that several cytokines such as MCP-1 and IL-6 were overexpressed in malignant glioma cells and they contributed to proliferation or invasion of malignant glioma cells. We have analyzed, the genes related to the malignancy of glioma cells using the methods of DNA microarray, DNA tip and proteomix. However it is necessary for furthermore investigation to confirm whether these genes are involved in the signal of the malignancy of glioma cells. We have confirmed that the glioma cancer stem cells established from the patients with glioma had the potential to grow up in the brain of the mouse and have been investigating for the quality of resistance for the tumor therapy such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.Based on the new discovery we have found in these study, we have been tackling to make up the new molecular targeting therapy such as to block the autocline cytokines loop, to suppress the activating signal in the malignancy of glioma cells. Furthermore we have been trying to establish a new technology to deliver the drug through the blood-brain barrier using the nano-technology. We need furthermore investigation for the application to clinical therapeutical methods in the therapies for glioma patients.