Abstract :
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary tumor of a central nervous system, with the IV grade of histological malignancy. Despite the advancement of GBM treatment strategies the overall survival in GBM patients is still less than one year and it is probably due to location of the tumor and its high proliferative as well as metastasis activity. Thus, there is an urgent need to intensify basic as well as clinical research on GBM for understanding the molecular biology of the diseases and for the treatment of brain tumor. Most of therapeutic and molecular studies are performed with using of commercially available GBM cell lines. Use of the right cell line, which is based on the precise knowledge of its characteristics, may not only facilitate to design the experiments but it also provides more authentic information from the study. Thus, the aim of this study is to present the characteristics of the U-87glioblastoma cell line, which is the most frequently used in brain tumor research. In the presented article there are the information indicating the similarities in U-87 cells and spontaneous GBM biology, description of current studies with using this cell line, as well as benefits of choosing U-87 cell line in researches.
Keyword :
U-87glioblastoma cell line; Brain tumor; Glioblastoma multiforme; Malignancy.