Acylglycerol Kinase Augments JAK2/STAT3 Signaling in Esophageal Squamous Cells Investigators demonstrated that AGK directly interacted with the JAK homology domain 2 to relieve inhibition of JAK2 and activate JAK2/STAT3 signaling. Overexpression of AGK sustained constitutive JAK2/STAT3 activation, consequently promoting the cancer stem cell population and augmenting the tumorigenicity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells both in vivo and in vitro. [J Clin Invest] Full Article Leukemia-Initiating Cell Activity Requires Calcineurin in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Ex vivo, calcineurin (Cn) deletion altered the adhesive interactions between leukemic cells and their supportive stroma, leukemic cell survival, proliferation, migration and clonogenic potential. In vivo, Cn activation was found to be critical for leukemia initiating/propagating cell activity as demonstrated by the failure of Cn-deficient leukemic cells to transplant the disease to syngeneic recipient mice. [Leukemia] Abstract Downregulation of miR-452 Promotes Stem-Like Traits and Tumorigenicity of Gliomas Investigators evaluated the effect of miR-452 on the stem-like properties and tumorigenesis of glioma cells. [Clin Cancer Res] Abstract The Pleiotrophin-ALK Axis Is Required for Tumorigenicity of Glioblastoma Stem Cells Researchers showed that anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and its ligand pleiotrophin are required for the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of glioblastoma stem cells. [Oncogene] Abstract Dysregulation of BMI1 and MicroRNA-16 Collaborate to Enhance an Anti-Apoptotic Potential in the Side Population of Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma Scientists showed that recurrent mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cases significantly exhibit upregulation of BMI1/Bmi1. They further demonstrated that clonogenic MCL side population (SP) shows such tumor-initiating characteristics as high tumorigenicity and self-renewal capability, and that BMI1 was upregulated in the SP from recurrent MCL cases and MCL cell lines. [Oncogene] Abstract Prediction of Response to Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Esophageal Cancer Using Stem Cell Markers Researchers investigated whether cancer stem cell marker expressing cells can be identified that predict for the response of esophageal cancer to chemoradiotherapy. [Radiother Oncol] Abstract Stemness and Inducing Differentiation of Small Cell Lung Cancer NCI-H446 Cells The authors investigated the expressions of multilineage stem cell markers in the cancer cells of small cell lung cancer cell line, NCI-H446, and analyzed their clonogenicity, tumorigenicity, and plasticity for inducing differentiation. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article The Expression and Significance of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor and Its Pathway on Breast Cancer Stem/Progenitors Data support the notion that insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-R1) is a marker of stemness, and IGF-1R and its downstream PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway are attractive targets for therapy directed against breast cancer stem/progenitors. [Breast Cancer Res] Abstract | Full Article  |