Research Models

Our lab has worked for several years to create a bank of patient-derived cultures and xenografts from neurosurgical specimens. We have developed a bank of over 45 patient-derived neurosphere cultures for in vivo and in vitro research on tumor stem cell biology, tumor cell invasion, and tumor genomics.

Drosophila melanogaster is a useful model system for identifying new signaling pathways and effectors in gliomas. Our group works with Drosophila-based models of high grade gliomas. We have several publications on these models and their uses:

Chen, A. and R.D. Read. 2019. Drosophila melanogaster as a Model System for Human Glioblastomas. Book chapter for “Drosophila Models in Cancer.” Springer Nature., edited by W.M. Deng.

Read, R.D., T.S. Fenton, G. Gomez, J. Wykosky, S.R. Vandenberg, I. Babic, H. Yang, A. Iwanami, P.S. Mischel, W.K. Cavenee, F.B. Furnari, J.B. Thomas. 2013. A kinome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila glia reveals that the RIO kinases mediate cell proliferation and survival through TORC2-Akt signaling in glioblastoma. PLoS Genetics 9(2):e1003253.

Read, R.D., W.K. Cavenee, F.B. Furnari, J.B. Thomas. 2009. A Drosophila model for EGFR-Ras and PI3K dependent human glioma. PLoS Genetics 5(2):e1000374.

Our group works with mouse models of Glioblastoma to study their behavior in the brain. We use both genetically engineered mouse models of high-grade gliomas, including models for EGFR-driven glioblastoma, MET fusion-driven high-grade pediatric gliomas, and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. These models allow us to study tumor cell growth interactions and growth patterns in the brain microenvironment.