Longitudinal Characterization of Microenvironment in low and high grade gliomas with special focus on Tumor-associated Microglia and Macrophages.

• Applicant: Dr. Nitzan Nissimov
• Subject Area: Molecular and Cellular Neurology and Neuropathology ; Experimental Models for the Understanding of Nervous System Diseases
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 552757674

Despite multiple attempts to better characterize, high grade gliomas (HGG) like glioblastoma (GBM) remain a hard to treat cancer, associated with treatment resistance and high recurrency rates. A special effort, included in this grant proposal, is to longitudinally look for specific markers that can be associated with tumor recurrence and with tumor progression from low to high grade glioma (LGG-HGG). This in order to try and find new treatment options for this resistance entity. A great deal of effort has been invested in understanding GBM pathophysiology to address the challenges in treatment, but with only very few progress. Tumor microenvironment (TME) has been recognized as an important player in the pathogenesis of gliomas. It initially inhibits but then stimulates the gliomas’ growth. Therefore, one sees therapeutic target in the TME of GBM and HGG. However, there is a need for a full and integrated understanding of the different cellular and molecular components involved in the TME and their interactions for the development of more efficient therapies. This to find specific targets for new therapies, in order to either prevent the transition of a LGG to a HGG or to prevent the recurrence of HGG like GBM. This major aim of this project is to characterize the longitudinal evolution of TME at HGG recurrence and during the transitioning of LGG to HGG in individual patients, this to find new targets for new therapeutic means.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position