Neural stem cells transplanted into tumor-bearing rats can hinder tumor cell growth and prolife-ration; however, the mechanism remains unclear. Abnormal activation of the Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk signaling cascade plays an important role in glioma. Inhibition of this aberrant activity could effectively hinder glioma cell proliferation and promote cell apoptosis.
To investigate the mechanism of glioblastoma treatment by neural stem cell trans-plantation with respect to the Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk pathway, Hua Li and team from the 476 Hospital of Chinese PLA observed Raf-1, Erk and Bcl-2 protein expression as well as Caspase-3 protein expression. The researchers found that transplantation of neural stem cells could inhibit the abnormal activation of Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk signaling, thus promoting apoptosis and potentially treating glioma. These findings are published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 19, 2013).
Mapping human biology: Human Cell Atlas leads a new era in precision medicine