NIH R01 · 2025
Plexin-B2 Function in Glioma Invasion
The malignant brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) is highly infiltrative. Migrating GBM cells are exposed to biomechanical forces during tumor invasion, however, little is understood of the mechanosensitive pathways that enable GBM cells to gain invasiveness. Here, we postulate that Plexin guidance receptors, focusing in this proposal on Plexin-B2 and its paralog Plexin-D1 (both highly upregulated in GBM and correlated with poor patient survival), may function as key mechanoregulators to enhance mechanotension-induced glioma cell migration. Our hypothesis is built upon a series of exciting recent discoveries: in orthotopic transplant models, using patient-derived GBM stem cells (GSCs), we found…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.