Grant: Operating Grant

Glioblastoma is an incurable and aggressive form of brain cancer. The goal of my research is to determine whether inhibition of a molecule known as "protein kinase C iota" would be an effective way to treat glioblastoma. Previous data from my lab has shown that inhibition of protein kinase C iota decreases the growth and invasiveness of glioblastoma cells in culture, and sensitizes them to chemotherapy. The aims of this proposal are: (1) to determine how protein kinase C iota inhibition prevents tumour cell growth. This knowledge will be used to identify chemotherapy agents that work in combination with protein kinase C iota inhibition;(2) to determine the effects of protein kinase C iota inhibition in animal models of glioblastoma. Brain tumours kill approximately 1500 patients a year in Canada and the majority of these deaths are due to the aggressive type of glioblastoma we are studying with this project. The proposed work has the goal of developing new treatments for glioblastoma that will reduce morbidity and mortality due to this disease.