title: Gliomas and the vascular fragility of the blood brain barrier.
abstract: Astrocytes, members of the glial family, interact through the exchange of soluble factors or by directly contacting neurons and other brain cells, such as microglia and endothelial cells. Astrocytic projections interact with vessels and act as additional elements of the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). By mechanisms not fully understood, astrocytes can undergo oncogenic transformation and give rise to gliomas. The tumors take advantage of the BBB to ensure survival and continuous growth. A glioma can develop into a very aggressive tumor, the glioblastoma (GBM), characterized by a highly heterogeneous cell population (including tumor stem cells), extensive proliferation and migration. Nevertheless, gliomas can also give rise to slow growing tumors and in both cases, the afflux of blood, via BBB is crucial. Glioma cells migrate to different regions of the brain guided by the extension of blood vessels, colonizing the healthy adjacent tissue. In the clinical context, GBM can lead to tumor-derived seizures, which represent a challenge to patients and clinicians, since drugs used for its treatment must be able to cross the BBB. Uncontrolled and fast growth also leads to the disruption of the chimeric and fragile vessels in the tumor mass resulting in peritumoral edema. Although hormonal therapy is currently used to control the edema, it is not always efficient. In this review we comment the points cited above, considering the importance of the BBB and the concerns that arise when this barrier is affected.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Gustavo
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Morfogênese Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Loraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Campanati
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cassia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Righy
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: D'Andrea-Meira
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tania Cristina Leite de Sampaio E
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Spohr
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Porto-Carreiro
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Odontologia, Escola de Ciências da Saúde (ECS), Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO) Duque de Caxias, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudia Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Neurociência e Biologia Celular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Balça-Silva
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Suzana Assad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Morfogênese Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: DosSantos
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió Alagoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcela de Almeida Rabello
authors.initials: Mde A
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió Alagoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ximenes-da-Silva
authors.affiliation: Centro de Neurociência e Biologia Celular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Celeste
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Faveret
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emerson Leandro
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Gasparetto
authors.affiliation: Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rua do Rezende Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Laboratório de Morfogênese Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vivaldo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moura-Neto
keywords: blood-brain barrier; brain tumor related edema; exosomes; glioblastoma; miRNA; neural stem cells; tumor-related epileptic seizures