1. Human organotypic brain slice culture: a novel framework for environmental research in neuro-oncology
- Author
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Mukesch Shah, Daniel Delev, Oliver Schnell, Marie Follo, Ulrich G. Hofmann, Melanie Meyer-Luehmann, Kevin Joseph, Julian Wurm, Yashar Naseri, Paolo d'Errico, Pamela Franco, Vidhya M Ravi, Simon P Behringer, Roman Sankowski, Nicklas W C Garrelfs, Irina Mader, Jürgen Beck, and Dieter Henrik Heiland
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Adult ,Male ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Plant Science ,Biology ,Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous) ,Models, Biological ,Tissue Culture Techniques ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Slice preparation ,In vivo ,Cell Movement ,medicine ,Temozolomide ,Tumor Microenvironment ,Humans ,Nerve Tissue ,Microinjection ,Research Articles ,Aged ,Cell Proliferation ,Aged, 80 and over ,Tumor microenvironment ,Ecology ,Cell growth ,Brain Neoplasms ,fungi ,Brain ,Infant ,Human brain ,Middle Aged ,030104 developmental biology ,Cytokine ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Astrocytes ,Immunohistochemistry ,Female ,Glioblastoma ,Neuroscience ,Research Article - Abstract
Therapeutically resected, adult brain segments were maintained and characterized for an extended period to study glioblastoma progression and treatment in its almost natural environment., When it comes to the human brain, models that closely mimic in vivo conditions are lacking. Living neuronal tissue is the closest representation of the in vivo human brain outside of a living person. Here, we present a method that can be used to maintain therapeutically resected healthy neuronal tissue for prolonged periods without any discernible changes in tissue vitality, evidenced by immunohistochemistry, genetic expression, and electrophysiology. This method was then used to assess glioblastoma (GBM) progression in its natural environment by microinjection of patient-derived tumor cells into cultured sections. The result closely resembles the pattern of de novo tumor growth and invasion, drug therapy response, and cytokine environment. Reactive transformation of astrocytes, as an example of the cellular nonmalignant tumor environment, can be accurately simulated with transcriptional differences similar to those of astrocytes isolated from acute GBM specimens. In a nutshell, we present a simple method to study GBM in its physiological environment, from which valuable insights can be gained. This technique can lead to further advancements in neuroscience, neuro-oncology, and pharmacotherapy.
- Published
- 2019
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