Expression analyses of glioblastoma derived neurosphere cultures

Recent studies demonstrated that tumor cells with stem cell-like properties can be cultured from human glioblastomas by using conditions that select for the expansion of neural stem cells. We established glioblastoma stem-like (GS-) cell cultures from 9 different glioblastomas, 8 of which generated stably expandable cell lines. Analyzing GS-cell cultures, we discovered two clearly discernable phenotypes. Microarray analysis showed that the 4 GSf cell lines shared expression profiles dominated by genes involved in nervous system development and neuropeptide signaling, while the 5 GSr lines shared expression signatures enriched for extracellular matrix-proteins. Keywords: Cell line comparison Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 chips were employed for expression profiling from 9 different glioblastoma derived neurosphere cultures in two biological replicates.