Health · Medical Research · 5 hrs ago
Research finds rules that help glioblastoma cells resist treatment
Researchers found predictable patterns in how glioblastoma cells change state and resist treatment.
Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer that grows quickly and spreads into nearby brain tissue.
Teams from EMBL, the German Cancer Research Center and the Wellcome Sanger Institute studied tumors from 12 patients and analyzed more than one million patient-derived cancer cells.
They found that cells move between different states along recurring paths, rather than changing randomly, and that these states occupy distinct areas within tumors.
Changing the activity of a regulator called MYT1L reduced cancer cells’ ability to change and showed less aggressive traits in laboratory experiments; mice given these modified cells lived longer than control mice.
This matters because the findings point to a possible way to steer tumor cells toward less dangerous states, though treatment for patients is not yet available.
Researchers are testing the approach experimentally and applying it to other cancers and brain disorders, while clinical use remains a future possibility.
Two studies published in Nature found that glioblastoma cells follow predictable rules as they change states and resist treatment.
Researchers analyzed molecular data from tumors collected from 12 patients and mapped recurring transitions between cell states.
They used an AI tool to identify molecular regulators that influence those transitions.
In experiments, increasing the activity of regulator MYT1L reduced cellular plasticity and malignant characteristics in patient-derived tumor cells.
Mice transplanted with the modified cells survived longer than mice given control cells.
- Who
- Researchers from EMBL, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
- What
- They identified rules and regulators linked to glioblastoma cell-state changes. Experiments with MYT1L reduced plasticity and malignant characteristics in tumor cells.
- When
- The studies were published in Nature. The publication date is not stated.
- Where
- The research involved tumors from 12 patients and laboratory-grown tumor organoids. The institutions are in Europe.
- Why
- Glioblastoma cells can change states to survive treatment. Researchers aim to understand and potentially redirect these changes.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers analyzed DNA, RNA, and epigenetic information from tumors collected from 12 patients.
The team used scDORI to examine gene regulation in more than one million patient-derived glioblastoma cells.
Increasing MYT1L activity reduced plasticity and malignant characteristics in patient-derived glioblastoma cells.
Mice receiving the modified tumor cells survived longer than those receiving control cells.
- Tumors analyzed
- Samples from 12 patients
- AI tool
- scDORI
- Cells examined
- More than one million patient-derived glioblastoma cells
- Regulator tested
- MYT1L
- Studies
- Two studies published in Nature
What people are saying
And this was present in every single glioblastoma tumor in every single patient we studied.
We could perhaps reprogram them, and maybe push them into a state that is less malignant, less dangerous.
Instead of seeing this heterogeneity only as an obstacle, we can use AI to learn from it and extract the rules that determine how cells choose their fate.