Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 4.44 | Nov 25 2015

An Integrated Genomic Approach Identifies that the PI3K/AKT/FOXO Pathway Is Involved in Breast Cancer Tumor Initiation
Investigators used shRNA genetic screening to identify genes that upon knockdown enhance mammosphere formation in breast cancer cells. Modulation of FOXO3A activity resulted in a change in mammosphere formation, expression of mammary stem cell markers and breast cancer initiating potential. [Oncotarget] Full Article

Targeting LGR5⁺ Cells with an Antibody-Drug Conjugate for the Treatment of Colon Cancer
Scientists evaluated a strategy that targets the cell surface leucine-rich repeat–containing G protein–coupled receptor 5 (LGR5), a well-characterized tissue stem cell and cancer stem cell marker, with an antibody conjugated to distinct cytotoxic drugs. [Sci Signal] Abstract | Editorial

CD90⁺ Stromal Cells Are the Major Source of IL-6 Which Supports Cancer Stem-Like Cells and Inflammation in Colorectal Cancer
Using in situ, ex vivo and co-culture analyses, scientists demonstrated that the number of IL-6 producing colonic myofibroblasts/fibroblasts (CMFs) is increased in colorectal cancer (C-CMFs). Expression of stem cell markers-aldehyde dehydrogenase and LGR5^– was significantly up-regulated in colon cancer cells cultured in the presence of conditioned medium from tumor isolated C-CMFs in an IL-6 dependent manner. [Int J Cancer] Abstract

Minnelide Effectively Eliminates CD133⁺ Side Population in Pancreatic Cancer
MIA PaCa-2, S2-013 and AsPC-1 were treated with 12.5 nM triptolide (12 T cells) for seven days. The surviving cells were recovered briefly in drug-free growth media and then transferred to cancer stem cell media (CSM). The 12 T and CSM cells were tested for stemness properties using RNA and protein markers. [Mol Cancer] Full Article

Increased Notch Signaling Enhances Radioresistance of Malignant Stromal Cells Induced by Glioma Stem/Progenitor Cells
Malignant stromal cells induced by glioma stem/progenitor cell 2 (ihBTC2) were isolated and identified from the double color-coded orthotopic glioma nude mouse model. The ihBTC2 cells had malignant phenotypes, such as infinite proliferation, hyperpentaploid karyotype, tumorigenesis in nude mice and expression of protein markers of oligodendroglia cells. [PLoS One] Full Article

IL-6 Signaling Promotes DNA Repair and Prevents Apoptosis in CD133⁺ Stem-Like Cells of Lung Cancer after Radiation
Researchers investigated whether IL-6 plays roles not only in promoting self-renewal of CD133⁺ cells after radiation, but also in conferring radioresistance of CD133⁺ cells in non-small cell lung cancer. [Radiat Oncol] Full Article

Malignant Transformation of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Induced by the Brain Glioma Niche in Rats
The influence of the tumor microenvironment on malignant transformation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) was studied after allografting a mixture of enhanced green fluorescent protein-labeled BMSCs and C6 glioma cells into the rat brain to understand the influence of the cellular environment, especially the tumor environment, on the transformation of grafted BMSCs in the rat brain. [Mol Cell Biochem] Abstract

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Lam Receives $4 Million in NIH Grants for Novel Cancer Research
Kit Lam, professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, has been awarded two major, multi-disciplinary U01 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the first to investigate use of a new tool to visualize cancer tumor growth and response to nanoparticle drugs, and the other to develop a new 4-D imaging tool to advance the understanding of how the nucleus functions in living cells. [UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center] Press Release

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Investigator – Cancer Biology (Wake Forest Baptist School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Stem Cell Research (The University of Texas Medical School At Houston)

Assistant Professor – Cancer Immunology (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

Faculty Positions – Cancer Pharmacology (Northwestern University)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Neural Development and Cancer (Columbia University)

Group Leader Position – Cancer Research (Oslo University Hospital)

PhD Studentships – Cancer Research (University of Cambridge)

Assistant, Associate or Full Professor – Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology (Mayo Clinic)

Research Technician II – Stem Cell and Gene Therapy (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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