Tubulin targets in the pathobiology and therapy of glioblastoma multiforme. II. gamma-Tubulin.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and deadliest form of primary brain cancer in adults. Despite advances in molecular biology and genetics of cancer there is no currently available treatment for these tumors. Aberrant patterns of gamma-tubulin expression and compartmentalization in GBM have been reported lending credence to the assertion that these changes might underlie perturbations in microtubule nucleation and mitosis associated with glioma tumorigenesis and tumor progression. This minireview focuses on the role of gamma-tubulin in the pathobiology of GBM in the light of emerging concepts concerning the function of gamma-tubulin and its potential role in tumorigenesis putting forward the concept that gamma-tubulin might serve as a novel marker of anaplastic change in gliomas.