Publications by authors named "Alan S Halim"
Cholesterol is a critical component of membranes and a precursor for hormones and other signaling molecules. Previously, we showed that unlike astrocytes, glioblastoma cells do not downregulate cholesterol synthesis when plated at high density. In this report, we show that high cell density induces ABCA1 expression in glioblastoma cells, enabling them to get rid of excess cholesterol generated by an activated cholesterol biosynthesis pathway.
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- - The study investigates how neurons in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) develop to process different sensory signals, focusing on the interactions between the p75 neurotrophin receptor and the Ret/GFRα complex in response to GDNF.
- - It finds that p75 is crucial for the activation and survival of Ret, as well as its proper localization in DRG neurons, when stimulated by GDNF.
- - In experiments with mice lacking p75 in sensory neurons, researchers observed a significant loss of nonpeptidergic nociceptors, particularly those with low Ret expression, suggesting that p75 is essential for the development of this specific nerve cell population.
A hallmark of cellular transformation is the evasion of contact-dependent inhibition of growth. To find new therapeutic targets for glioblastoma, we looked for pathways that are inhibited by high cell density in astrocytes but not in glioma cells. Here we report that glioma cells have disabled the normal controls on cholesterol synthesis.
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