title: EGFR Amplification and Glioblastoma Stem-Like Cells.
abstract: Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common malignant brain tumor in adults, contains a subpopulation of cells with a stem-like phenotype (GS-cells). GS-cells can be maintained in vitro using serum-free medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor-2, and heparin. However, this method does not conserve amplification of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene, which is present in over 50% of all newly diagnosed GBM cases. GS-cells with retained EGFR amplification could overcome the limitations of current in vitro model systems and contribute significantly to preclinical research on EGFR-targeted therapy. This review recapitulates recent methodological approaches to expand stem-like cells from GBM with different EGFR status in order to maintain EGFR-dependent intratumoral heterogeneity in vitro. Further, it will summarize the current knowledge about the impact of EGFR amplification and overexpression on the stem-like phenotype of GBM-derived GS-cells and different approaches to target the EGFR-dependent GS-cell compartment of GBM.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Brain Tumor Biology, Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liffers
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Brain Tumor Biology, Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lamszus
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Brain Tumor Biology, Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany ; Laboratory for Tumor Genetics, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9400-2386
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schulte