The cerebral cortex size controlling gene, ASPM, gene expression in childhood and adolescence brain tumors

• Grant number: 17/26902-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Regina Caminada de Toledo
• Grantee: Débora Cabral de Carvalho Corrêa
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors in children represent the most common neoplasia of childhood and adolescence. The ability to analyze tissues on a genomic scale modified the understanding of these tumors and allowed the identification of several subgroups. According to the new classification of brain tumors, established by the World Health Organization, the diagnosis is based on the histological classification, the tumor grade, and its molecular characteristics. Among the CNS tumors of childhood and adolescence, neuroepithelial tumors are the most frequent ones, which include gliomas, medulloblastoma and ependymoma. The ASPM gene is responsible for the most common type of autosomal recessive microcephaly. This gene is the major determinant in the cortical cerebral size of primates, including humans, since its function in the expansion of neuronal progenitor cells and its location in the mitotic spindle and centrioles allow the regulation of brain development by mechanisms associated with cell division. Besides its role in embryonic development, the ASPM gene is involved in the growth of several types of tumors, including medulloblastoma and gliomas. The inhibition of the ASPM gene demonstrated a reduction in the number of progenitor cells located in the ventricular zone, leading to the suggestion of an ASPM role in the increase of neural cells. Growth of the cerebellum is typically reduced in primary microcephaly, whereas in medulloblastoma there is an excessive growth of this region. Therefore, the investigation of the ASPM gene in tumors of the central nervous system in children and adolescents can expand the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the tumorigenesis process of these tumors.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CABRAL DE CARVALHO CORREA, DEBORA; DIAS OLIVEIRA, INDHIRA; MASCARO CORDEIRO, BRUNA; SILVA, FREDERICO ADOLFO; DE SEIXAS ALVES, MARIA TERESA; SABA-SILVA, NASJLA; CAPELLANO, ANDREA MARIA; DASTOLI, PATRICIA; CAVALHEIRO, SERGIO; CAMINADA DE TOLEDO, SILVIA REGINA. Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM) gene expression in posterior fossa brain tumors of childhood and adolescence. CHILD'S NERVOUS SYSTEM, v. 37, n. 1, JUN 2020. (17/26902-1)