An Analysis on the Effects of Inhibitors on Cathepsin D in Glioblastoma Cells

The objective of our research project is to develop a simple method for detecting cathepsin D in GBM cell lines. In order to investigate this question, we created a project proposal involving a inhibitor cocktail, T-98G glioblastoma cells, bovine serum, and well plates. Cathepsin D is a marker for the deadly cancer, so our investigation aims to test the impact of inhibitors on the cancer. Can we reduce the growth of Glioblastoma by adding a mixture of inhibitors? Once our glioblastoma cells stably have grown, we will create a lysis buffer to mix in with an inhibitor cocktail and then perform a colony formation assay on the strains to determine cell count. We are creating a buffer in order to allow the cells and inhibitors to mix in the most optimal environment. Our specific inhibitor cocktail is composed of Pepstatin A and other compounds because prior knowledge suggests that Pepstatin A has the potential to block the growth of Cathepsin D, as it has with other cancer cell markers. Cell count will tell us how the inhibitor cocktail affects growth, as it is supposed to block the autoactivation of Cathepsin D