Establishment and standardization of a three-dimensional cell culture of glioblastoma multiforme as a platform for drug development

• Grant number: 24/15753-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Metabolism and Bioenergetics
• Principal Investigator: Tiago Rodrigues
• Grantee: Letícia de Souza Fernandes
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/14650-3 - Sodium-calcium exchangers and cancer: role in calcium homeostasis, energy metabolism and tumor proliferation, AP.R

Abstract

Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, affecting millions of people every year. Its incidence has increased globally due to a number of factors, including an ageing population, contemporary lifestyle habits, exposure to environmental carcinogens, genetic predisposition, among others. Conservative cancer treatments involve surgical resection, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, although more targeted and personalized therapies have emerged, such as immunotherapy, targeted therapy and cell therapy. Despite this, relapses, drug resistance, high costs and side effects are recurrent and contribute to treatment failure and complete remission. It is therefore necessary to constantly improve our understanding of the cellular and molecular aspects involved in this disease in order to develop more effective and safer forms of treatment. In this sense, three-dimensional (3D) culture systems have emerged as an important tool to complement studies using monolayer (2D) cell cultures. This type of culture mimics cell-cell interactions and the conditions that are found in the tumor microenvironment, including the availability of substrates, nutrients and oxygen. Therefore, the establishment and standardization of 3D tumor cultures is of fundamental importance for the study of tumor biology, i.e., the behavior and molecular alterations exhibited by tumor cells. Furthermore, this model provides support for the identification of new compounds with potential for cancer treatment. Therefore, in this project we will develop and standardize a methodology for the establishment of 3D cultures of human glioma tumor cells, which will later serve as a platform for the study of compounds with antitumor potential. This project is of fundamental importance for the research group in which it is part, as it will establish a methodology that will be used in other projects developed in the laboratory.