Nora Essakhi

Role of GD3 in the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment and its potential as a therapeutic target for CAR T cells

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults. There is no curative treatment, and therapeutic resistance is at least related to the presence of cancer stem cells and immunosuppressive microenvironment. Identifying relevant targets for these cells and developing dedicated immunotherapy is therefore a therapeutic challenge. Our team has previously demonstrated that gangliosides can be linked to stem-like properties of GB cells. Our objective is to demonstrate that GD3 is a relevant epitope for GB stem cells (GSC) to develop CAR T-cell approach. We also aim to understand GD3’s role in the tumor microenvironment.