Project description

In recent years, research has shown that neurons actively influence cancer development by signaling to tumor cells and promoting tumor growth. A central mechanism involves neuron-to-glioma synapses, which transmit neuronal activity to glioblastoma cells, thereby driving tumor progression. This connects directly to our findings that provide mechanistic insight into the gene regulatory networks controlling neuron-glioma communication.

Chromatin organization regulates transcription by modulating 3D interactions between enhancers and promoters within the nucleus. In our previous work (Chakraborty et al., 2023, Nature Communications), we first showed that rewiring of 3D genome and epigenomic landscape orchestrates gene expression programs that underlie neuron-to-glioma communication.

In this project, we will use single-cell sequencing methods, bioinformatics, and genome editing approaches, as well as co-culture systems modeling neuron–glioma interac...