Improvement in ventriculomegaly following cervicomedullary decompressive surgery in children with achondroplasia and foramen magnum stenosis.

The role of cervicomedullary decompression (CMD) in the care of hydrocephalic achondroplastic children who present with simultaneous foramen magnum stenosis is not well understood. We sought to determine the percentage of symptomatic achondroplastic children with foramen magnum stenosis who had stabilization or improvement in ventriculomegaly following CMD. The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of pediatric patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with achondroplasia and signs of progressive ventriculomegaly who underwent CMD for symptomatic foramen magnum stenosis between the years 2000 and 2018.

Spheres isolated from 9L gliosarcoma rat cell line possess chemoresistant and aggressive cancer stem-like cells.

The rat 9L gliosarcoma is a widely used syngeneic rat brain tumor model that closely simulates glioblastoma multiforme when implanted in vivo. In this study, we sought to isolate and characterize a subgroup of cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs) from the 9L gliosarcoma cell line, which may represent the tumor-initiating subpopulation of cells. We demonstrate that these CSLCs form clonal-derived spheres in media devoid of serum supplemented with the mitogens epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor, express the NSC markers Nestin and Sox2, self-renew, and differentiate into neuron-like and glial cells in vitro.