Assessment of Radiation Resistance and Therapeutic Targeting of Cancer Stem Cells: A Raman Spectroscopic Study of Glioblastoma

Radiation is the standard therapy used for treating Glioblastoma (GBM), a grade IV brain cancer. Glioma Stem-like Cells (GSCs), an integral part of GBM, enforces resistance to radiation therapy of GBM. Studying the differential biomolecular composition of GSCs with varying levels of radiation sensitivity can aid in identifying the molecules and their associated pathways which impose resistance to cells thereby unraveling new targets which would serve as potential adjuvant therapy. Raman spectroscopy being a noninvasive, label free technique can determine the biomolecular constituent of cells under live conditions. In this study, we have deduced Raman spectral signatures to predict the radiosensitivity of any GSC accurately using the inherent and radiation induced biomolecular composition. Our study identified the differential regulation of several biomolecules which can be potential targets for adjuvant therapy. We radiosensitized the resistant GSCs using small molecule inhibitors specific to the metabolic pathways of these biomolecules. Efficient antitumor therapy can be attained with lower dosage of radiation along with these inhibitors and thus improving the survival rate of GBM patients with reduced side-effects from radiation.