A neurogenic model of adult brain cancer in the fly

Inactivation of the tumour suppressor gene PTEN is prevalent in primary Glioblastoma. In mammals, PTEN loss has been associated with the failure of a specific molecular axis, including aPKC and Lgl, responsible for the maintenance of the Glioblastoma Stem Cells (GSCs), a reservoir of self-sustaining cells with characteristics similar to neural progenitors. Here we developed a neurogenic model of Drosophila brain cancer based on the dysfunction of the PTEN-aPKC-Lgl axis in type II neuroblasts (NB), whose differentiation proceeds through transit-amplifying intermediate precursors, as it is for mammalian neural progenitors. We obtained neurogenic tumours that express high levels of MYC, keep growing in the adult and lead the animal to premature death, summarising several traits typical of human brain cancers. Recently, our laboratory has demostrated that the physiological phenomenon called MYC-Mediated Cell Competition (MMCC) is conserved in human cancers, where malignant cells are likely to use MYC activity to colonise the organ. Preliminary data will be presented about a possible correlation between MMCC and cell division in brain cancer development.