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Dr. LiuMoorehouse School of Medicine Assistant Professor Mingli Liu, M.D., Ph.D. mentee of UAB Department of Neurosurgery Professor Erwin Van Meir, Ph.D., recently received an SC1 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Van Meir serves as a consultant for this grant and will advise Liu on design and interpretation of the planned experiments, provide literature support, and assist with writing data reports such as scientific manuscripts. 

Lui's study titled “TRPM7 induces tumorigenesis and stemness through Notch activation in glioma” has the following aims:

  1. Determine the role of TRPM7 in the regulation of Ca2+ and Mg2+ homeostasis in GBM PDX and PDX- GSC.
  2. Determine the role of the Notch signaling pathway regulated by TRPM7 in the progression of glioma and maintenance of self-renewal and tumorigenicity of GSC using PDX and PDX-GSC.
  3. Investigate whether targeting TRPM7 reduces tumor growth in mouse PDX glioma models and sensitizes tumor to TMZ- mediated apoptosis.  

Accomplishing this study will delineate the molecular mechanisms of TRPM7 in the development and progression of glioma tumorigenesis and stemness, as well as develop TRPM7 as a novel drug target for glioma patients. 

Learn more about the study here.