Filtered Products

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly malignant central nervous system tumor with dismal prognosis, and radical curative approaches are still lacking in clinical practice. The prominent intratumoral heterogeneity of GBM constitutes the core factor leading to difficult treatment and unsatisfactory therapeutic outcomes. Malignant GBM cells can differentiate into four canonical cell states: neural progenitor cell-like (NPC-like), oligodendrocytic progenitor cell-like (OPC-like), astrocytic-like (AC-like) and mesenchymal-like (MES-like). NPC-like and OPC-like cells primarily take part in tumor invasion into brain tissues and mediate electrical communication with the neuronal microenvironment. In contrast, AC-like and MES-like cells form interconnected tumor microtube networks, through which they establish signal crosstalk with normal cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) to drive malignant tumor progression. To thoroughly investigate the biological functions underlying malignant cell heterogeneity in GBM, experimental models with high fidelity, reproducibility and operability are urgently required. Such models should accurately recapitulate human tumor cell states, reconstruct interactions within the tumor microenvironment, and support standardized experimental manipulation. Patient-derived xenograft models are widely adopted for GBM mechanistic research at present. Nevertheless, they require long preparation periods and complicated operations; additionally, species differences prevent them from faithfully recapitulating the authentic biological characteristics of human tumors. Although conventional monolayer cell culture enables rapid mechanistic research on human tumors, it lacks an intact neural microenvironment and fails to reproduce sophisticated in vivo cell-cell interaction patterns [14]. In recent years, human organoid technology has been progressively optimized and applied to glioblastoma research, overcoming numerous limitations of traditional models. GBM organoids can closely mimic the pathological phenotypes and biological features of human tumors, which facilitates the exploration of oncogenic mechanisms, the illustration of regulatory rules in the tumor microenvironment, as well as targeted drug screening and pharmacodynamic evaluation. Organoid models established using patients’ autologous tumor tissues can fully reflect individual tumor heterogeneity. They provide experimental evidence for designing individualized clinical regimens, precisely predict patients’ therapeutic responses, help optimize clinical intervention strategies, and ultimately improve the overall treatment efficacy of glioblastoma. Generation of patient-derived glioblastoma organoids (PD-GBOs) and models for investigating GBM invasiveness. Two mainstream construction protocols are available: Protocol 1: Fresh surgically resected tumor specimens are dissociated or thoroughly minced, embedded in Matrigel, and cultured in Neurobasal complete medium (NBM) supplemented with exogenous growth factors (epidermal growth factor EGF / basic fibroblast growth factor bFGF). Protocol 2: Tumor tissues are only finely minced without single-cell dissociation, seeded onto ultra-low attachment plates, and cultured in plain Neurobasal medium free of exogenous growth factors, relying on endogenous extracellular matrix from the tissue to sustain growth.