Cancer neuroscience represents an interdisciplinary field at the forefront of cancer research, seamlessly combining insights from neurobiology and oncology. The intricate interplay between the nervous system and cancer has yielded profound insights into the mechanisms of tumor progression and the tumor microenvironment. The latter, comprising neuro-glial, immune, and endothelial networks, has been identified as a critical determinant of cancer growth and metastasis.
Cutting-edge technologies inspired by the neuroscience field are transforming our ability to study brain cancers from a neural perspective. This course will enable students to integrate theoretical and methodological concepts in neuro-oncology, combining modern neuroscience approaches with hands-on experience in state-of-the-art methodologies. The course provides an integrated understanding of the crosstalk between neuro-oncology and neuroscience.
Course directors
- Antonio C. Pagano Zottola (Bordeaux Institute of Oncology – INSERM, France)
- Anna Golebiewska (Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg)
- Varun Venkataramani (German Cancer Research Center, Germany)
September 22 – 11:00am
Anna Golebiewska (Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg)
Heterogeneity and plasticity of the brain tumor ecosystem: What can we learn from advanced patient-derived models?
September 23 – 9:00am
Simona Parrinello (University College London, UK)
Injury programmes shape gliomagenesis.
September 23 – 11:00am
Henrik Heiland (Dep. of Neurosurgery, University Clinic Erlangen, Germany)
September 25 – 9:00am
Hélène Castel (Cancer and Brain Genomics, Inserm, University of Rouen, France)
Neurosciences in Oncology: When Cancer Thinks Out of the Box.
September 25 – 11:00am
Thomas Daubon (CNRS, University of Bordeaux, France)
Lactate Shuttle between Glioblastoma Cells and Neurons: a Cancer Neuroscience Case.
September 29 – 9:00am
Franck Winkler (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
Cancer Neuroscience of Brain Tumors.
September 29 – 11:00am
Vidhya M. Ravi (Medical Centre University Clinic of Freiburg, Germany)
Tumor–Host Interdependence: Decoding the Microenvironmental Dialogue.
October 2 – 9:00am
Hrvoye Miletic (University of Bergen, Norway)
Cell communication and mitochondria transfer in brain tumors.
October 2 – 11:00am
Manuel Valiente (Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Spain)
The Evolving Landscape of Brain Metastases.
October 3 – 9:00am
Leila Akkari (Netherlands Cancer Institute, The Netherlands)
Macrophages: Jack of all Trades in the Brain Ecosystem?
October 6 – 9:00am
Varun Venkataramani (German Cancer Research Center, Germany)
October 6 – 11:00am
Aurélie Tchoghandjian (Institute of Neurophysiopathology, Marseille, France)
Glioblastoma stemness and immunosuppression: breaking the lethal cycle.
October 9 – 9:00am
Antonio Pagano Zottola (Bordeaux Institute of Oncology, University of Bordeaux, France)
MitoDREADD: a new mitochondria-specific chemogenetic tool.
Maialen Arrieta, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France
Chiara Bastiancich, Institut de Neurophysiopathologie, France
Doriane Bomont, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France
Clementine Bosch Bouju, NutriNeuro, Bordeaux University, France
Kevin Boyé, Paris Cardiovascular Research Center, France
Lucie Brisson, Bordeaux Institute of Oncology, France
Audrey Burban, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France
Thomas Daubon, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France
Ahmad Sharanek, Bordeaux Institute of Oncology, France
Emanuelle Georget, Bordeaux Institute of Oncology
Nassim Haffiane, IINS, Bordeaux University, France
Maria Haykal, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France
Camille Humeau, Bordeaux Institute of Oncology, France
Valentina Lopardo, Università di Salerno, Italy
Oceane Martin, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France
Pilar Moreno-Sanchez, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg
Clement Morgat, INCIA, Bordeaux University, France
Ekin Reyhan, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Mahsa Rezaeipour, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg
Beatrice Senigagliesi, IINS, Bordeaux University, France
Kirill Smirnov, Institut de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences de Paris, France
Stella Soyka, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Cloe Tessier, Bordeaux Institute of Oncology, France
Claire Larrieu, IBGC Bordeaux, France
Bastien Redon, Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux University, France
Cultures of brain tumor cells
Primary cultures of neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes
Primary culture of enteric nervous system cells (ENS) and ex vivo analysis of ENS structure in mouse models
Tumor cell spheroid cultures
Organoids
Organotypic brain slices
Co-culture of tumor cells with brain cells
Culture of glioblastoma cells in 3D-living systems of brain
Stereotaxic surgery for tumor implantation
Tumor debulking via the biopsy punch technique
Live imaging of cell-cell interactions
Confocal microscopy
Spinning-disk microscopy
Super-resolution microscopy
Two-photon microscopy
Multiphoton longitudinal imaging of tumor progression
DREADD manipulation and calcium imaging in mice during reward-based navigation.
Neuronal calcium activity using a head-mounted miniature microscope on animals performing behavioral tasks
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Radiolabeling with radiometals and characterization of radio pharmaceuticals
SPECT/CT imaging and post-mortem biodistribution
PBMC isolation from human blood
Isolation of murine tumor-infiltrating immune cells
Characterization of immune cells by flow cytometry
High resolution respirometry using Resipher system and Oroboros Oxygraph-2k
Isolation of proteins and exosomes.
PamGene Technology
Methods to induce Blood-brain barrier opening in brain tumor models
Electrophysiology in multielectrode array
Electrophysiological patch-clamp recordings
Introduction to signal preprocessing, spike detection, and activity mapping
Image analysis using Imaris software
Analysis of cell motility with ImageJ
Analysis of spatial transcriptomics datasets using Seurat, Squidpy, R and Python
Analysis of 10x Genomics Visium datasets from human glioblastoma samples
Exploration of 10x Genomics Xenium imaging-based spatial data
Honorary lecture from Brain Prize Winner
Frank Winkler, German Cancer Research Center, Germany.
Keynote Speakers
Thomas Daubon, Institut de Biochimie et Génétique Cellulaires, France.
Manuel Valiente, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Spain.
Simona Parrinello, UCL Cancer Institute, UK.
Aurélie Tchoghandjian, Institut de Neurophysiopathologie, France.
Hélène Castel, Cancer and Brain Genomics, Inserm, University of Rouen, France.
Hrvoye Miletic, University of Bergen, Norway.
Vidhya Ravi Madapusi, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Germany.
Leila Akkari, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Netherlands.
Dieter Henrik Heiland, Department of Neurosurgery, University Clinic Erlangen, Germany.