Authors:

Mia Engelbart

Date Created:

Not specified

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Professor:

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About Paper:

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary malignancy of the central nervous system and is typically fatal due to recurrence. Targeting residual cells after tumor removal is challenging due to the infiltrative nature of GBM. It is crucial to develop adjuvant therapies that can combat the drivers of disease recurrence. Our laboratory has discovered slow-cycling cells (SCCs) in high-grade glioma, which are infiltrative and treatment-resistant cells responsible for driving recurrence. It is imperative to develop an effective strategy to specifically eliminate this cell population. These cells have a cellular niche containing potentially immunogenic neoantigens, making them suitable targets for immune-based therapies. Our objective is to utilize SCC antigens in the form of RNA or peptides to stimulate the immune system and enable identification and targeting of treatment resistant clones, leading to effective tumor control. Our results demonstrated that T cells specific to slow-cycling cells (SCC-T cells) showed greater activation when exposed to treatment resistant tumor cells, as evidenced by increased differentiation of CD8 cells and enhanced development of effector and memory cells. Furthermore, SCC-T cells exhibited the highest level of anti-tumor activity, resulting in reduced tumor cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. Our SCC-based immunotherapy platform shows promise in targeting treatment-resistant glioblastoma cells. 445

Source:

University of Florida / 2024

Topics:

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Co-authors:

Mia Engelbart