Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 6.21 | May 31 2017

TOP STORY

Distinct Roles of Hes1 in Normal Stem Cells and Tumor Stem-Like Cells of the Intestine

The authors demonstrated that normal stem cel (NSC)-specific and cancer stem cell-specific roles of the stem cell transcription factor Hes1 in the intestine enable the feasibility of a specific cancer therapy. Hes1 expression was upregulated in NSC and intestinal tumors. [Cancer Res] Abstract

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Inhibition of KLF4 by Statins Reverses Adriamycin-Induced Metastasis and Cancer Stemness in Osteosarcoma Cells

Researchers report that adriamycin treatment induces a stem-like phenotype and promotes metastatic potential in osteosarcoma cells through upregulating KLF4. KLF4 knockdown blocks adriamycin-induced stemness phenotype and metastasis capacity. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Tg737 Regulates Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Cancer Stem Cell Properties via a Negative Feedback Circuit between Snail and HNF4α during Liver Stem Cell Malignant Transformation

Investigators established a chemical-induced mouse hepatoma model and found that Tg737 and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4-alpha (HNF4α) expression decreased and epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related marker expression increased during liver cancer development. [Cancer Lett] Abstract

Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 4 (sFRP4) Chemo-Sensitizes Cancer Stem Cells Derived from Human Breast, Prostate, and Ovary Tumor Cell Lines

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) were isolated from breast, prostate, and ovary tumor cell lines, and characterized using tumor-specific markers such as CD44⁺/CD24⁻/CD133⁺. The post-transcription data from CSCs that have undergone combinatorial treatment with sFRP4 and chemotherapeutic drugs suggest downregulation of stemness genes and upregulation of pro-apoptotic markers. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Activated Hepatic Stellate Cells Secrete Periostin to Induce Stem Cell-Like Phenotype of Residual Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells after Heat Treatment

Conditional medium from activated primary hepatic stellate cells or LX-2 cells significantly induced the stem cell-like phenotypes of residual hepatocellular carcinoma cells after heat treatment. [Sci Rep] Full Article

MELK and EZH2 Cooperate to Regulate Medulloblastoma Cancer Stem-Like Cell Proliferation and Differentiation

The authors report that more abundant expression of maternal embryonic leucine-zipper kinase (MELK) and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) in medulloblastoma stem-like cells than in neural stem cells and the interaction between the two proteins could mediate the self-renewal of sonic hedgehog-subtype medulloblastoma. [Mol Cancer Res] Abstract

Emergence of CD26⁺ Cancer Stem Cells with Metastatic Properties in Colorectal Carcinogenesis

Scientists quantified CD26⁺ cancer cells in 11 primary tumor samples by flow cytometry, and showed that tumors having confirmed or suspected metastases harbored a relatively high CD26⁺ level in these samples. They hypothesized that this subpopulation of cancer stem cells arises in the late stage of carcinogenesis from the bulk of tumor daughter cells which are CD26⁻. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Evaluation of Somatostatin and Nucleolin Receptors for Therapeutic Delivery in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Stem Cells Applying the Somatostatin-Analog DOTATATE and the Nucleolin-Targeting Aptamer AS1411

Investigators evaluated somatostatin receptor 2 targeting and nucleolin targeting for therapeutic delivery to cancer stem cells from lung cancer. Nucleolin is expressed highly but not selectively, while somatostatin receptor 2 is expressed selectively but not highly by cancer cells. [PLoS One] Full Article

Control of Cancer Stem Cell Like Population by Intracellular Target Identification Followed By the Treatment with Peptide-siRNA Complex

The authors enriched CD44^High population of MDA-MB-231 cells by CD44 antibody as a cancer stem cell marker. By Phospho Antibody Array, CD44^High population of MDA-MB-231 cells reveals feline sarcoma-related tyrosine kinase protein was highly activated. [Biochem Biophys Res Commun] Abstract

Endogenous miRNA Sponge LincRNA-ROR Promotes Proliferation, Invasion and Stem Cell-Like Phenotype of Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Researchers analyzed long intergenic non-coding RNA, regulator of reprogramming (linc-ROR) expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and determine the regulation effects of linc-ROR on proliferation and invasion of cancer cells, as well as properties of cancer stem-like cells. [Cell Death Discov] Full Article

Modeling the Process of Human Tumorigenesis

The authors survey the advantages, contributions and limitations of current de novo human tumorigenesis strategies and note several exciting prospects on the horizon. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Adult Mammalian Epithelial Stem Cells

The authors discuss the principles of the signaling pathway and its role in adult epithelial stem cells of the intestine and skin during homeostasis and tumorigenesis. [Dev Biol] Abstract

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Advaxis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Announce Clinical Collaboration to Evaluate ADXS-DUAL and Opdivo (Nivolumab) in Metastatic Cervical Cancer

Advaxis, Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb announced a clinical development collaboration to evaluate ADXS-DUAL, an investigational immunotherapy targeting HPV-associated cancers, and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo, as a potential combination treatment option for women with metastatic cervical cancer. [Advaxis, Inc.] Press Release

GlycoMimetics Completes Enrollment of Relapsed/Refractory AML Patient Cohort in Phase II Portion of Clinical Trial of GMI-1271

GlycoMimetics, Inc. announced that the second of two patient cohorts in the Phase II portion of its ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial of GMI-1271 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has completed enrollment. This second cohort is comprised of 66 participants with relapsed/refractory AML. [GlycoMimetics, Inc.] Press Release

UK Election: Science Spending Pledges Overshadowed by Brexit

Ahead of a UK election that will decide who leads the country’s exit negotiations with the European Union, a remarkable consensus has emerged among the main national parties. All three have pledged in their manifestos to spend more money on science. Each is “putting science at the heart of their program for the future of Britain”, says Sarah Main, director of the London-based Campaign for Science and Engineering. Yet as the uncertainty of Brexit hangs over the future of British science, for many researchers the promises may seem more like consolation prizes. [Nature News] Editorial

NIH Scales Back Plan to Curb Support for Big Labs after Hearing Concerns

Faced with a barrage of criticism, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has scaled back a plan to cap its support for individual labs in order to free up funds for more scientists. The changes did not appease scientists who gave NIH a tongue-lashing at a meeting of NIH’s Council of Councils. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

House Science Panel Joins Trump in Questioning Research Overhead Payments

A hearing on how the U.S. government defrays the cost of doing federally funded research on college campuses might put most people to sleep. But when budgets are tight, the billions of dollars being spent each year on so-called overhead become an irresistible target for lawmakers. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW The TGF-β Superfamily: Signaling in Development and Disease
July 9-14, 2017
Lisbon, Portugal

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NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Biology and Epigenetics (University of South Carolina)

NEW Professor – Stem Cell Biology (University College London)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Biology (Case Western Reserve University)

Postdoctoral Position – Gene Regulation in Stem Cells and Tissue Regeneration (Northwestern University)

Postdoctoral Positions – Cancer Biology (University of Minnesota)

Faculty Positions – Cancer and Stem Cell Biology (Sun Yat-Sen University)

Postdoctoral Associate – Cancer Biology/Immunology/Leukemia Research (University of Miami)

Postdoctoral Associate – Cancer Research/Oncology (University of Miami)

Postdoctoral Fellow Positions – Signaling Pathways in Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston)

Postdoctoral Fellows – Cancer Stem Cell Biology (Genome Institute of Singapore)

Research Officers – Cancer Stem Cell Biology (Genome Institute of Singapore)

Postdoctoral Fellows – Cancer Biology (University of Texas Medical School at Houston)

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