Targeting Wnt-driven Angiogenesis in Pediatric Glioma

Award: $150,000 over three years
Principal investigators: David Rowitch, MD, PhD and William Weiss, MD, PhD
Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Funding partner: Bryan’s Dream Foundation

The Rowitch laboratory has shown that oligodendrocytes maintain a Wnt-activated program of angiogenesis at postnatal stages (Yuen et al., 2014, Cell in press). Moreover, many laboratories have shown conservation of oligodendrocyte-like features in human glioma. Therefore, PIs will test the hypothesis that gliomas have co-opted a mechanism for angiogenesis that is normally required during CNS development. This study may identify a novel target for anti-angiogenic therapy.