Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 5.33 | Aug 24 2016

TOP STORY

LncSox4 Promotes the Self-Renewal of Liver Tumor-Initiating Cells through Stat3-Mediated Sox4 Expression

The authors discovered that a long noncoding RNA termed LncSox4 is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and in liver tumor-initiating cells (TICs). They found that LncSox4 is required for liver TIC self-renewal and tumor initiation. [Nat Commun] Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Addiction to the IGF2-ID1-IGF2 Circuit for Maintenance of the Breast Cancer Stem-Like Cells

Scientists identified insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) is a key target of nuclear factor-κB activated by HER2/HER3 signaling to form tumor spheres in breast cancer cells. The IGF2 receptor, IGF1 R, was expressed at high levels in cancer stem cell-enriched populations in primary breast cancer cells. [Oncogene] Full Article

The Novel Tubulin-Binding, Checkpoint Activator BAL101553 Inhibits EB1-Dependent Migration and Invasion and Promotes Differentiation of Glioblastoma Stem-Like Cells

Researchers have shown that overexpression of microtubule +End-binding 1-protein (EB1) correlates with glioblastoma (GBM) progression and poor survival. Here, they showed that BAL27862 inhibited the growth of two GBM cancer stem-like cells. [Mol Cancer Ther] Abstract

Scalable Production of Glioblastoma Tumor-Initiating Cells in 3 Dimension Thermoreversible Hydrogels

Tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are required for drug discovery and development. Researchers report a new method that encapsulates patient-derived primary glioblastoma TICs and grows them in 3 dimensional thermoreversible hydrogels. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Proteolysis-A Characteristic of Tumor-Initiating Cells in Murine Metastatic Breast Cancer

Investigators explored molecular pathways which enable the tumor initiating potential for a cancer cell subset of the transgenic MMTV-PyMT mouse model for metastasizing breast cancer. [Oncotarget] Full Article

Sensitivity to PRIMA-1^MET Is Associated with Decreased MGMT in Human Glioblastoma Cells and Glioblastoma Stem Cells Irrespective of p53 Status

Scientists found that O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) silencing decreased expression of mutp53/gain-of-function in T98/shRNA. PRIMA-1^MET further cleared T98/shRNA cells of mutp53, decreased proliferation and clonogenic potential, abrogated the G2 checkpoint control, increased susceptibility to apoptotic cell death, expression of GADD45A and sustained expression of phosphorylated Erk1/2. [Oncotarget] Full Article

Blockade of Inhibitors of Apoptosis Proteins in Combination with Conventional Chemotherapy Leads to Synergistic Antitumor Activity in Medulloblastoma and Cancer Stem-Like Cells

The authors explored new therapeutic regimens to overcome chemotherapeutic agent resistance or reduce chemotherapy-induced toxicity. [PLoS One] Full Article

Monobenzyltin Complex C1 Induces Apoptosis in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells through the Intrinsic Signaling Pathway and through the Targeting of MCF-7-Derived Breast Cancer Stem Cells via the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

Monobenzyltin Schiff base complex, [N-(3,5-dichloro-2-oxidobenzylidene)-4-chlorobenzyhydrazidato](o-methylbenzyl)aquatin(IV) chloride, C1, is an organotin non-platinum metal-based agent. The authors investigated its effects on MCF-7 cells with respect to the induction of apoptosis and its inhibitory effect against MCF-7 breast cancer stem cells. [PLoS One] Full Article

Arsenite Inhibits the Function of CD133⁺ CD13⁺ Liver Cancer Stem Cells by Reducing PML and Oct4 Protein Expression

Researchers showed that CD133⁺CD13⁺ hepatocytes isolated from HuH7 cells and primary HCC cells display biochemical and functional characteristics typical of cancer stem cells (CSCs), suggesting that CD133⁺CD13⁺ hepatocytes in primary HCC tumors function as CSCs. [Tumor Biol] Abstract

Transforming Growth Factor β as Regulator of Cancer Stemness and Metastasis

The authors focus on the actions of TGFβ on cancer stem cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts and immune cells that assist the overall process of metastatic dissemination. They aim at illustrating intricate connections made by various cells in the tumor tissue and which depend on the action of TGFβ. [Br J Cancer] Full Article

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Immix Biopharma, Inc. Accelerates Financing Efforts to Extend Its Cancer Therapeutic Platform after Receiving Positive Stability Data for Lead Candidate

Immix Biopharma, Inc. announced the successful completion of six-month stability testing for its lead and foundational candidate, Imx-110. In stability studies, a drug’s stability is tested under the influence of a variety of environmental factors such as: temperature, humidity and light. [Immix Biopharma, Inc.] Press Release

Cloaked Therapeutics and Monvida Announce Collaboration to Develop TumorSelect^® Paclitaxel for China and Vietnam Markets

Cloaked Therapeutics, LLC and Monvida Pharmaceuticals, LLC announced that they have entered into a collaboration to develop TumorSelect^® Paclitaxel for all oncology indications. Under the agreement, Monvida gains Chinese and Vietnamese development and commercial rights. Cloaked retains rights in all other world markets. [Cloaked Therapeutics, LLC. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

Immune Therapeutics, Inc., through Its Wholly Owned Subsidiary TNI BioTech International, Ltd., Initiates Clinical Trial in Malawi with LDN for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer

Immune Therapeutics, Inc. in conjunction with the College of Medicine Malawi, has initiated a clinical study with LDN for the prevention of cervical cancer. This is an open-label, multicenter study designed to determine the safety and acceptability of a single-visit approach to cervical cancer prevention in patients. [Immune Therapeutics, Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

Putin Appoints Church Historian as Science Minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a church historian as the country’s new science and education minister. The president announced that Olga Vasilyeva would succeed the current science minister, Dmitry Livanov, who will become presidential envoy on trade and economic relations with Ukraine, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. [Nature News] Editorial

Obama’s Science Legacy: Betting Big on Biomedical Science

Ambitious bids to map the brain and cure cancer have not boosted overall research funding. [Nature News] Editorial

US Personalized-Medicine Industry Takes Hit from Supreme Court

Rejections for US patents related to personalized medicine have spiked after recent Supreme Court decisions tightened the rules for such claims, an analysis of more than 39,000 patent applications reveals. [Nature News] Editorial

Chemistry Group Throws Out Election Results after Fears of Vote Rigging

Members of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry are reacting with puzzlement and shock after learning that the results of a recent online leadership election have been thrown out because of voting irregularities—raising concerns over possible manipulation. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Updated: Companies Settle Gene Technology Patent Fight That Was Shrouded in Mystery

Illumina Inc. and Oxford Nanopore Technologies have reached a settlement in this legal battle, according to a U.S. International Trade Commission document released last week. Oxford has agreed not to import or sell any product containing a pore with an amino acid sequence at least 68% similar to Mycobacterium smegmatis porin — the protein at the heart of Illumina’s infringement claim — and to destroy any inventory of such products. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress
September 8-12, 2017
Madrid, Spain

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW Associate Scientist – Epigenetics of Cancer (Celgene Corporation)

Full Professor – Molecular Mechanisms of Tumorigenesis (German Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Metastatic Breast Cancer (Purdue Center for Cancer Research)

Core Staff Scientist (Moffitt Cancer Center)

Principal Investigator – Clinical Geneticist in Pediatric Leukemia (Children´s Cancer Research Institute, St. Anna Kinderkrebsforschung)

Bioinformatician – Bioinformatics Data Analysis (Children´s Cancer Research Institute, St. Anna Kinderkrebsforschung)

Senior Research Assistant – Differentiation and Survival of Leukemia Stem Cells (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center)

Tenure Track Faculty – Biological Sciences Scholars Program (University of Michigan)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Stem Cell Biology (Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Synthetic Cancer Biology (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Tumor Biology in Multiple Myeloma (Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Wnt Pathway in Sarcoma Pathogenesis (University of Miami Health System)

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