Medulloblastomas are the most common pediatric brain tumors, but they are difficult to study because patient biopsies only represent late stages of the disease. Using a mouse model, we’re studying the early stages of this cerebellar tumor.
We focuse on the relationship between pre-tumor cells and their environment, i.e. how Hedgehog target genes control signaling in pre-tumor cells and contribute to tumor initiation.
Recently, we showed for the first time that loss of Ndp/Frizzled4 signalling in surrounding cells creates a tumor-permissive environment during the early stages of tumor formation in the developing cerebellum.