Effect of macroautophagy inhibition on Glioblastoma stem cells.

Laurent Baricault

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of malignant brain tumour in adults. The treatment regimen consists of tumour resection in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy with an alkylating agent. Despite this, the average survival of patients is poor due to the presence of glioblastoma-initiating cells (GIC).

One of the characteristics of GICs is that they have a high macro-autophagy, which allows them to resist conventional treatment. The project consists of pharmacologically blocking macro-autophagy, verifying whether this decreases the quantity of GICs, and determining whether there are any molecular players that can regulate this process. Ultimately this project could lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Keywords :

glioblastoma, cancer stem cells, macroautophagy