Ultrasonic surgical aspirate is a reliable source for culturing glioblastoma stem cells

Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) are thought to be the source of tumor growth and therapy resistance. Core biosies that are used to generate GSC cultures are ususally taken from one part of the tumor and are thus unlikely to represent intra-tumoral heterogeneity. This study shows that the ultrasonic aspirates (UA), that are usually considered as a biological waste, can be used as a reliable source of GSCs. Furthermore the UA aspirates seem to be capturing the tumorigenic signature better than the traditional biopsies. Total RNA isolated from the core tumor tissues (Fr-Co) was compared to that from the ultrasonic aspirates (Fr-UA). Total RNA isolated from the tumorspheres generated from core tumor tissues (Sp-Co) was compared to the total RNA isolated from tumorspheres generated from ultrasonic aspirates (Sp-UA).