Functional study of a voltage-gated potassium channel during medulloblastoma cell migration

Abstract

Medulloblastomas (MB), the most common pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumor, is a neuroepithelial tumor characterized by its rapid progression, aggressive nature, and tendency to metastasize along the brain-spinal cord axis. Little is known about the functional effectors driving deregulated MB cell migration and metastasis. Studies with mouse MB tumor models have revealed that the expression of EAG2, a voltage-gated potassium channel, is markedly upregulated during MB tumorigenesis. Abundant expression of the EAG2 gene has also been detected in MB human specimens. In the present work, we have studied the functional role of EAG2 using two established human MB cell lines, DAOY and VMB11.