Neural Stem Cells and Low Grade Glioma

Building on an initial grant awarded in 2013 focused on the development of human neural stem cell models of PLGA, this study focuses on further exploration in defining and accumulating neural stem cell models for PLGA brain tumors. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that suppression of oncogene-induced senescence in human neural stem cells will allow these cells to tolerate constitutive activation of the RAS/BRAF/MAP kinase pathway, leading to increased growth in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. These models will be used to screen for new drug targets that can decrease the growth of PLGA by attacking specific pathways.

Funded in 2014.