Role of Epidermal Growth Factor-Triggered PI3K/Akt Signaling in the Migration of Medulloblastoma-Derived Cells.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common brain cancer diagnosed among children. The cellular pathways that regulate MB invasion in response to environmental cues remain incompletely understood. Herein, we examine the migratory response of human MB-derived Daoy cells to different concentration profiles of Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) using a microfluidic system.

Sendai virus-based liposomes enable targeted cytosolic delivery of nanoparticles in brain tumor-derived cells.

Background: Nanotechnology-based bioassays that detect the presence and/or absence of a combination of cell markers are increasingly used to identify stem or progenitor cells, assess cell heterogeneity, and evaluate tumor malignancy and/or chemoresistance. Delivery methods that enable nanoparticles to rapidly detect emerging, intracellular markers within cell clusters of biopsies will greatly aid in tumor characterization, analysis of functional state and development of treatment regimens.

Results: Experiments utilized the Sendai virus to achieve in vitro, cytosolic delivery of Quantum dots in cells cultured from Human brain tumors.

Targeted extracellular nanoparticles enable intracellular detection of activated epidermal growth factor receptor in living brain cancer cells.

Unlabelled: Mechanistic study of biological processes via Quantum Dots (QDs) remain constrained by inefficient QD delivery methods and consequent altered cell function. Here the authors present a rapid method to label activated receptor populations in live cancer cells derived from medulloblastoma and glioma tumors. The authors used QDs to bind the extracellular domain of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGF-R) proteins and then induced receptor activation to facilitate specific detection of intracellular, activated EGF-R subpopulations.