Ichiro Nakano
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Cell Sci Ther
Malignant glioma remains one of the most devastating diseases despite recent advances in the current therapies. Emerging evidence has indicated that brain tumor stem cells (BTSC) are likely the specifi c target of therapy and their elimination may result in the growth arrest of the entire tumor mass. Th e current therapies, however, preferentially target non-stem tumor cells. To discovery the prospective compou nds from a large number of candidates effi ciently, we developed here the screening system for Brain Tumor Stem Cell-targeting chemotherapeutic agents. Th is system functions as a rational agent-prioritization process essential for future progress in developing eff ective novel cancer treatments. We use our surgical specimen s of malignant glioma, and several neural progenitor cultures derived from human fetal brains. Cultured tumor cells are enriched with clonogenic and multipotent stem-like tumor cells, and possess tumorigenic potential when implanted into immunodefi cient mouse brains. To assess the eff ect of compounds, the initial step is to use in vitro clonogenic assay and cell survival and mig ration assays. Following these initial assays, potential compounds are then processed to the in vivo effi ciency assays using BTSC-derived mouse brain tumor model. In this presentation, we describe the strengths and limitations of each of our assays and also our data with the leading compounds from the previous screening. Considering the shortcomings of current therapies for malignant glioma with abstruse underlying mechanisms, it is crucial to identify the drugs directly targeting the culprit cells. Cell based screening system mentioned herewith provides means of identifying compounds directly targeting BTSC.
Dr. Ichiro Nakano has completed his residency in Neurosurgery and obtained a Ph.D in Neuroscience in Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicien. He then completed postdoctoral training at University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, Dr. Nakano is a clinically-active neurosurgeon at the Ohio State University and the director of the Neural Cancer Stem Cell Program. His lab focuses on therapy development for malignant glioma. He has published more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals and holds two patents in the fi eld of neural stem cells and brain tumor stem cells
