Assessing mechanisms of glioblastoma invasion

Abstract

Glioblastomas are one of the deadliest and most invasive cancers in humans. This heterogenous population of tumours interact with the surrounding brain parenchyma, disrupting physical barriers such as basement membranes, extracellular matrices and cell-cell contact while activating cellular processes that enable infiltration of cells long distances away from the original tumour mass. The protocols describe in this chapter aim to establish experimental models, both in vitro and in vivo, as tools for discovery and evaluation of the underlying molecular mechanisms of cellular invasion by providing experimental methodology that recapitulate, as close as possible, the tumour microenvironment in humans. Although established for the assessment of glioma migration and invasion, these methods provide experimental platforms that can be easily adapted for different types of cancers and for the screening of candidate cancer therapeutics. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.