Minxin Huang

OSM has been reported to stimulate the glioblastoma (GBM) stem cell toward the mesenchymal subtype.  However, I have found that OSM stimulates different responses in different GBM stem cell lines and am now investigating why this occurs. It is thought the OSM works though the Jak-STAT pathway to induce Notch ligands to cause this transition.  I am following up with Jak inhibitors and Notch inhibitors to see if this is true for our cell lines.  I am also investigating whether the Notch pathway is activated in our cell lines by western blot analysis of various proteins in the Notch pathway.  I ultimately hope to learn why different cell lines respond differentially to OSM.