TY  - THES
AU  - Truong, Hanh Thi Hong
Y2  - 2020/12/04
Y1  - 2020
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/11343/252804
AB  - Background: 
In human brain cancers, glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) originate from neoplastic transformation of neural stem cells (NSCs) or dedifferentiation of other neural cells. Similar to normal NSCs, GSCs possess stem-cell properties to self-renew and differentiate into multiple neural lineages. However, GSCs are more plastic than normal NSCs, as they can transdifferentiate into other cell types. At the present, we do not fully understand the cellular step-wise conversion from GSCs into other distinct cell lineages, and the molecular mechanism responsible for this event. Drosophila NSCs, called neuroblasts (NBs), also asymmetrically divide to renew themselves, and generate neurons or glia that make up the adult central nervous system. Disrupting either asymmetric cell division or neuronal maintenance allows differentiated cells to dedifferentiate into ectopic NBs, which then continue to proliferate and form tumours. 

Methods and aims:
We utilised several in vivo brain tumour models in Drosophila to study how GSCs function in brain cancers and how they undergo transdifferentiation. In this thesis, I induced loss-of-function of transcription factors Prospero or Nerfin-1 in NB lineages to generate dedifferentiation-driven tumours, and found a class of cells which exhibited glial cell identity. I sought to investigate the behaviours and characteristics of these ectopic glia to elucidate some aspects about GSC transdifferentiation by answering three questions: (1) What are the cell numbers and cell types within the pros- and nerfin-1- tumours. (2) Do ectopic glia arise by transdifferentiation of NBs in the tumours? (3) Which transcription factors and signal transduction pathways drive the formation of ectopic glia, and are ectopic glia required for tumour growth?

Results: 
(1)	 I found that the expansion of ectopic glia population is correlated with overall tumour growth. Ectopic glia exhibit glial identity and their formation is not dependent on the location of tumours in the central nervous system. 
(2)	 By performing live-cell imaging of pros- tumours and molecular marker analysis, I found a subset of NBs switch to glial cell fate. 
(3)	 I performed genetic experiments to manipulate the transcription factors dichaete, tailless and glial cells missing (gcm) in pros- tumour and found that they are required for ectopic glial formation and tumour growth. Their target gene reversed polarity (repo) regulates the formation of ectopic glia, which in turn, promote the tumour growth. I showed that Notch promotes tumour growth independently of its effect on ectopic glial formation, as Notch regulates the tumour growth in the absence of ectopic glia. I also showed that FGF signalling pathway promotes tumour growth by regulating ectopic glia formation, as it does not affect the tumour growth in the absence of ectopic glia. Hippo pathway also plays a role in promoting the formation of ectopic glia and tumour growth. 

Our study of pros- and nerfin-1- tumour models in the context of transdifferentiation may extend our understanding of the biology of NBs and may shed light on GSC behaviours upon their transdifferentiation into different cell types. We can use the underlying mechanisms of these phenotypes to gain a better understanding of the transdifferentiation events at the molecular and cellular levels. As most genes and signalling pathways examined in this study are also found in human brain cancers, this study will enhance the knowledge of how cell fate changes can influence the tumour malignancy.
KW  - neural stem cell
KW  - Drosophila
KW  - fruit fly flies
KW  - glial cells missing
KW  - repo
KW  - gcm
KW  - neuroblast
KW  - neuron
KW  - glia
KW  - transdifferentiation
KW  - dedifferentiation
KW  - differentiation
KW  - temporal transcription factor
KW  - dichaete
KW  - tailless
KW  - Asense
KW  - brain tumour
KW  - cancer stem cell
KW  - Central brain
KW  - Central nervous system
KW  - Mira
KW  - Elavi
KW  - notch
KW  - cell fate
T1  - Transdifferentiation of cancer stem cells in brain tumours: Lessons from Drosophila neural stem cells
L1  - /bitstream/handle/11343/252804/2205ba86-80c5-ea11-94c0-0050568d0279_Hannah_Truong_FINAL_THESIS.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=n
ER  -