CXCR4-Expressing Glial Precursor Cells Demonstrate Enhanced Migratory Tropism for Glioma

Malignant glioma remains one of the most intractable of human cancers principally due to the highly infiltrative nature of these neoplasms. The use of neural precursor cells (NPC) has received considerable attention based on their ability to selectively migrate towards disseminated areas of tumor in vivo and their described ability to deliver tumor-directed therapies specifically to infiltrating tumor cells. Fundamental to optimizing the use of these cells for potential clinical translation is the development of an understanding regarding the biologic cues that govern their ability to migrate towards infiltrative glioma foci. To this end, in this paper we detail that NPC selected for double-expression of the glial-precursor marker A2B5 and the cell-surface chemokine receptor, CXCR4, demonstrate enhanced in vitro glioma-directed tropism. These findings demonstrate the relevance of these markers for the phenotypic segregation of an optimally tumor-tropic NPC sub-population as a means of enhancing NPC-based therapeutic strategies for the treatment of glioma.