Unveiling the role of Hippo Interactors in Glioma Progression using Drosophila models

Unveiling the role of Hippo Interactors in Glioma Progression using Drosophila models

    Presenter(s)

    Satya Burugupalli, Maria Theresa El Biri, Grace Leitzel, Arushi Rai

    Comments

    3:00-4:15, Kennedy Union Ballroom

    Description

    Chronic inflammation has the potential to impact tumorigenesis including gliomagensis. Yorkie (YAP/TAZ in human), downstream effector of Hippo pathway by interacting with its regulatory pathway such as JNK might play critical role in promoting glioma progression. Drosophila is employed as an in-vivo model to study glioma and immune regulation. Presence of diverse evolutionarily conserved cellular pathways and gene homology in Drosophila makes it an ideal and relevant model comparable to higher vertebrates for glioma studies. The preliminary data from transcriptomics, scRNA-seq in primary and recurrent GBM, and immune landscape of GBM associated microglia suggest that activation of NFkB and YAP lead to activation of several transcription factors that together cause cellular and signalling alterations that promote GBM growth. In Drosophila we intend to study the interactions of Yorkie (YAP/TAZ in human) with other pathways and the innate immune system. We will use two well-established glioma models, by constitutively activating EGFR and PI3K in one, and by knocking down PTEN with oncogenic Ras overexpression in another using the Gal4-UAS system in Drosophila CNS. Here we present our progress on changes in expression of cellular markers in the established glioma models. We also investigated for inflammatory markers in GBM and immune invasion in glioma. We will present the data on role of Yorkie interactors and inflammation using immunostainings, qPCR analyses, and western blot of larval brains of both wildtype and glioma models.

    Publication Date

    4-23-2025

    Project Designation

    Graduate Research

    Primary Advisor

    Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

    Primary Advisor's Department

    Biology

    Keywords

    Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

    Institutional Learning Goals

    Practical Wisdom

    Unveiling the role of Hippo Interactors in Glioma Progression using Drosophila models

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