No more hide and seek for glioma stem cells in their protective niches

Overall, the studies described in this PhD thesis are aimed at the understanding and visualization of glioma stem cell (GSC) niches in human glioblastoma brain tumors that protect the therapy-resistant GSCs by maintaining them in a slowly-dividing state. The studies describe that GSC niches in glioblastoma tumors are functionally similar to hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niches in healthy bone marrow, as both niche types are peri-arteriolar and hypoxic where similar receptor-ligand interactions are involved in the maintenance of slowly-dividing stem cells in the niches. Based on the similarities between GSC niches in glioblastoma and HSC niches in bone marrow, novel therapeutic strategies are described to target GSCs more efficiently with radiotheray and chemotherapy.