Inhibition of glioma invasion of fetal brain aggregates

Glioblastoma multiforme is a malignant primary brain tumor associated with short patient survival in part because of the ability of individual cells to migrate significant distances into brain tissue. Invasion is a difficult process to model, because many such human tumors do not invade immunologically competent animal tissue, tumors grown in animals do not invade human tissue, and relevant human tissue substrates are not easily reproduced. We discuss models for examining invasion in vitro, and in particular review work using the tumor spheroid--fetal rat brain aggregate co-culture model, assessed with confocal microscopy and four-dimensional imaging. Quantitation of invasion in this model is discussed, as well as the invasion-inhibitory properties of tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors. The effects of receptor-specific tyrphostins strongly support a dominant role for Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor activation in this process and show that invasion can be effectively inhibited at much lower concentrations of TK inhibitors than is necessary for growth suppression. Inhibition of activation of the purported growth factor receptor second messenger phospholipase C- gamma 1, by pharmacological means and gene transfection, also profoundly inhibits the invasive properties of human glioblastoma and rat C6 glioma cells. We have assessed invasiveness in several human tumor specimens, which may provide information relative to prognosis and recurrence risk. Our data supports the concept of differential control of invasion and proliferation, and points to possible strategies for anti-invasive therapy for glioblastoma multiforme.