STORIES OF DISCOVERY
Apoptotic Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Promote Malignancy
of Glioblastoma via Intercellular Transfer of Splicing Factors
Ichiro Nakano, MD, PhD, professor in the UAB Department of Neurosurgery, was recently the
winner of the UAB School of Medicine’s Featured Discovery. This initiative celebrates important
research from faculty.
Ichiro Nakano,
MD, PhD
Dr. Nakano and colleagues discovered that apoptotic, cell-derived extracellular vesicles promote
malignancy of glioblastoma via intercellular transfer of splicing factors. This knowledge, published
in Cancer Cell, identifies a possible target for new therapies to treat glioblastoma, a primary brain
cancer, and the mechanism may apply to other cancer types as well.
Dr. Nakano discusses his research and answers questions in the full interview, located online at
go.uab.edu/nakano.
BRAIN TUMOR THERAPY IS GOING TO THE DOGS
People share many things with the dogs in their lives. Unfortunately, that can include a tendency to develop brain tumors.
Dogs and humans are among the few species that spontaneously develop naturally occurring brain tumors. Those tumors
have a lot in common, too, which has led scientists in the Department of Neurosurgery to wonder whether studying
tumors in dogs will help treat humans, and whether studying tumors in humans will help treat man’s best friend.
“Brain tumors in dogs and humans are remarkably similar,” says M. Renee Chambers, DVM, MD, a veterinarian as well as
a neurosurgeon in the UAB Department of Neurosurgery. “They share similar rates of incidence and mortality, and they
share similar symptoms such as seizures, which is often the first symptom observed in both humans and dogs. Treatment
is very much the same, too, with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy being the standard of care.”
Because of the similarities, new therapies being developed for humans might work on dogs. To that end, UAB is
partnering with veterinary schools to conduct the first immunotherapy study for brain tumors in pet dogs using an
oncolytic herpes simplex virus known as M032. M032 was developed at UAB by neurosurgeon James Markert, MD,
MPH, who has been studying viral therapies for brain tumors for more than 25 years. M032 is a second-generation virus,
following on the heels of a previously genetically engineered virus known as G207.
Read the full story online at go.uab.edu/canine.
VIRAL IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR BRAIN TUMORS IN CHILDREN SHOWS PROMISE
A viral immunotherapy using a herpes virus to treat brain tumors has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in a
pediatric study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s of Alabama. The findings, presented in
July 2018 at the International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology in Denver, also showed preliminary evidence of
effectiveness in killing malignant tumor cells.
The virus, known as G207, is derived from the herpes virus responsible for cold sores. The virus is genetically altered so
that it infects only tumor cells. When infused into a malignant brain tumor, the virus enters the tumor cells and replicates.
This kills the cell and releases the virus’ progeny to hunt for other tumor cells. Additionally, the virus induces a strong
immune response from the body’s immune system, which can attack the tumor.
The use of genetically engineered oncolytic viruses, which selectively kill cancer cells as a treatment for brain tumors and
other cancers, is the product of more than 20 years of research at UAB by James Markert, MD, MPH, chair of the UAB
Department of Neurosurgery and a senior scientist at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. The concept of
engineering such viruses to also express proteins to further stimulate an antitumor immune response was first described
in the literature in 2001 by Dr. Markert and colleagues.
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UAB Neurosurgery Annual Report 2020