Singh S.K., Venugopal C. Brain Tumor Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols

New York: Humana Press, 2018. — 257 p.The study of human cancer stem cell (CSC) populations is fraught with technical challenges and seemingly insurmountable experimental tribulations, including limited and highly precious patient-derived samples, low cell numbers, optimal growth conditions, and difficulties in sorting and purifying heterogeneous cell populations derived from cancer stem cell hierarchies. And yet the rewards of implementing the newest and most advanced technologies to obtain novel data from these CSCs far exceed any of the challenges faced by scientists, as discoveries made in human CSC populations are one step closer to translation into new therapeutic options for cancer patients.
In this textbook, we have carefully curated and compiled the best methodologies and experimental techniques to profile and extract maximal data from brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs), the experimental paradigm for brain cancer research that offers insights into CSC populations that may drive not only tumor initiation but also tumor recurrence and patient relapse. The BTSC model recapitulates scientific observations made in brain cancer patients, and we seek to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of the skills and techniques that will unlock data from this most informative subset of cells.
We do hope that you will enjoy reading these succinct methodological briefs on the most innovative technologies and applications to BTSC research, provided by international experts in the field. Armed with the best available knowledge of BTSC techniques, we wish you happy data acquisition on your journey to better understand the complexities of brain cancer.