Gliomas are the predominant type of primary central nervous system tumors. They are highly invasive and notoriously refractory to current therapies. Patients diagnosed with a malignant glioma face a dismal prognosis that has remained relatively unchanged in the last three decades. A promising novel approach to glioma therapy is based upon modulating molecular mechanisms that regulate cell types critical for tumor growth. Recent identification of cancer stem cells that initiate and maintain tumor growth in gliomas has prompted investigation into the molecular signaling pathways that regulate this unique cell type. The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway regulates stem cells and is activated in several cancer types. Prompted by the role of Hh signaling in regulating neural stem cell self-renewal, I investigated the potential role of the pathway in glioma growth. To address this question, I evaluated the status of Hh signaling in primary gliomas. Furthermore, I tested our hypothesis that Hh signaling regulates glioma growth in a relevant preclinical model.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-09282009-041526 |
| Date | 29 September 2009 |
| Creators | Sarangi, Anuraag |
| Contributors | Harold L. Moses, Mark deCaestecker, Michael K. Cooper, Chin Chiang, Bruce Appel |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu//available/etd-09282009-041526/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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