How do microglial cells promote glioma invasion:potential implication of paracrine lipid signaling?

The overarching goal of this proposal is to understand the mechanistic underpinnings of microglia-driven glioma invasion and identify new therapeutic targets that enable a more complete surgical resection to substantially enhance patient survival. Our preliminary results support our proposition that targeting the communication between microglia and glioma cells provides an effective way to block the invasive nature of several GBM subtypes independent of their genetic backbone. The proposed aims are as follows:

Aim 1 Identify microglia-directed cues in promoting tumor invasiveness in space and time in murine and human glioblastoma

Aim 2 Investigate the implication of lipid metabolism and signaling in microglia-driven tumor cell invasion

Aim 3 Investigate the implication of YAP/TAZ as a potential driver in microglia-dependent glioma invasion