During development, the major classes of neural cells are derived from cells of the neuroepithelium. At present, it is not known how the fate of these divergent cell types is determined or how they relate to highly heterogeneous brain tumors. To date, there is also a lack of understanding of the cells of origin for distinct tumor types.1
To design therapeutic approaches for treating brain tumors requires an understanding of the signal transduction pathways utilized by different tumor cells for regulating cell fates (including cell differentiation, proliferation and death). Any findings in this area will need to be compared to signal transduction pathways in normal neural progenitors. [Read more…]