Assistant Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Neurosurgery, University of Calgary

Project title: “Charting the three-dimensional glymphatic system in human glioblastoma”

Generously funded in honour of Mackenzie Rigg, supported by Vikes Kick Cancer

Description of the project:

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a devastating brain tumour with limited treatment options. This project explores the role of the glymphatic system, the brain’s waste-removal and immune-cell transport network, in GBM progression. The research team hypothesizes that glymphatic dysfunction, caused by GBM invading the spaces surrounding blood vessels that form the glymphatic system, alters fluid regulation and contributes to the immune-dampened environment that hinders treatment effectiveness. To visualize the glymphatic system in human GBM, this research will use an innovative imaging technology called light-sheet microscopy (LSM). This technology allows researchers to create 3D images of large tissue samples while preserving high resolution, overcoming the limitations of traditional 2D microscopy.

The team has developed a novel tissue-clearing protocol specifically for human GBM, enabling imaging of larger tissue volumes. This project will generate a detailed 3D map of the glymphatic system in GBM and characterize its relationship with blood vessels and supportive cells. The findings will uncover how glymphatic dysfunction affects cellular responses in GBM, identifying new tactics by which GBM evades the body’s defences to develop novel therapeutic strategies and ultimately improve outcomes for brain tumour patients.

What receiving this award means:

The Poon Laboratory is thrilled and honoured to receive the 2024 Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada Research Grant. This award marks a critical milestone in launching our laboratory and enables a project to elucidate the vital yet underexplored role of the glymphatic system in glioblastoma. We extend our deepest gratitude to Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, the Rigg Family, and Vikes Kick Cancer, in honour of Mackenzie Rigg, for their generous support.

Midpoint Report – July 2026

This project explores the role of the glymphatic system, the brain’s waste removal and immune cell transport network, in glioblastoma (GBM) progression. The research team hypothesizes that glymphatic dysfunction, caused by GBM invading the system’s perivascular spaces, alters immune cell trafficking and contributes to the immunosuppressive environment that hinders treatment effectiveness. To visualize the glymphatic system in human GBM, this research utilizes an innovative imaging technology called light sheet microscopy. This technology allows researchers to create 3D images of large tissue samples while preserving high resolution, overcoming the limitations of traditional 2D microscopy. The team has developed a novel tissue clearing protocol specifically for human GBM.

We have now imaged the main glymphatic system components in GBM, including the perivascular stromal cells, aquaporin-4 water channels, and blood vessels (achieving our first 2 Aims to optimize our tissue staining protocols and characterize the main components of the GBM glymphatic system). We are currently expanding our cohort and characterizing the immune cells within the glymphatic system (Aim 3). We are working on techniques to analyze the distances of these immune cells from the perivascular spaces of the glymphatic system to measure immune infiltration patterns. We anticipate completing the first draft of a manuscript by the end of this year.

Thus far, this generously donated grant has already helped fund an article reviewing the glymphatic system in GBM in Brain, a top tier journal. Our lab has also contributed to three other original research manuscripts on immunity in GBM, as well as a presentation at a national conference.

We look forward to generating a detailed 3D map of the glymphatic system in GBM that will inform the development of future therapies, the overarching objective of this grant.