A gene called PID1 may increase the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy drugs on brain tumors, according to a study published online 11 April 2017 in the journal Scientific Reports. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy are common treatment options for cancer. In brain tumors, however, chemotherapy usually has limited effects. Scientists have long sought to find more effective chemotherapy drugs for brain tumors and to find ways to sensitize brain tumor cells to these drugs. Now a study in the journal Scientific Reports reveals that a gene called PID1 may increase the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy drugs on brain tumors. Dr. Anat Erdreich-Epstein, a researcher at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles who has been studying pediatric brain cancers for years, previously found that PID1 inhibited the growth of medulloblastoma, glioma and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor cell lines. In clinical, patients with medulloblastoma and glioma who have high levels of PID1 mRNA in their tumors have better prognosis. By contrast, lower PID1 mRNA in medulloblastomas and gliomas is associated with more aggressive disease. In this study, Dr. Erdreich-Epstein and colleagues tested the hypothesis that PID1 may sensitize medulloblastomas and gliomas to chemotherapy. Experiments in tumor cell lines demonstrated that PID1 increases apoptosis induced by etoposide and cisplatin, two chemotherapy drugs that are used to treat several cancers. One the other hand, decreasing the levels of PID1 inhibits cisplatin-mediated apoptosis. Collectively, the data implies that PID1 contributes to the responsiveness of brain tumor cells to chemotherapy. This is the first study that demonstrates that PID1 enhances apoptotic response of glioblastoma and medulloblastoma cells to cisplatin and etoposide. Understanding how PID1 works may guide the development of more effective chemotherapy drugs for brain tumors. (PID1 and other proteins like Recombinant ROM1 can be offered Cusabio.)