Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 7.07 | Feb 21 2018

TOP STORY

The FACT Inhibitor CBL0137 Synergizes with Cisplatin in Small Cell Lung Cancer by Increasing NOTCH1 Expression and Targeting Tumor-Initiating Cells

Investigators report a novel therapeutic strategy that preferentially targets tumor-initiating cells (TICs) in small cell lung cancer in which cisplatin is combined with CBL0137, an inhibitor of the histone chaperone facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT), which is highly expressed in TICs. [Cancer Res] Abstract | Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Snail Regulates BMP and TGFβ Pathways to Control the Differentiation Status of Glioma-Initiating Cells

Scientists demonstrated that Snail represses stemness in glioma stem cells. Snail interacted with SMAD signaling mediators, generated a positive feedback loop of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling and transcriptionally repressed the transforming growth factor β (TGFB)1 gene, decreasing TGFβ1 signaling activity. [Oncogene] Full Article

Leptin Signaling Mediates Obesity-Associated CSC Enrichment and EMT in Preclinical TNBC Models

Preclinical models of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) were used to test the hypothesis that increased leptin signaling drives obesity-associated TNBC development by promoting CSC enrichment and/or epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). [Mol Cancer Res] Abstract | Full Article

Abrus Agglutinin Stimulates BMP-2-Dependent Differentiation through Autophagic Degradation of β-Catenin in Colon Cancer Stem Cells

Scientists revealed that Abrus agglutinin (AGG) induces colon CSCs differentiation, enhancing sensitivity to anticancer therapeutics. The low dose AGG decreased the expression of stemness-associated molecules such as CD44 and β-catenin in HT-29 cell derived colonospheres. [Mol Carcinog] Abstract

Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (OPCs) Target Cancer Stem-Like Cells and Suppress Tumor Organoid Formation in Colorectal Cancer

Researchers utilized a series of in vitro, in vivo and patient-derived organoid approaches to systematically investigate the chemoprotective role of OPCs in colorectal cancer. OPCs exerted anti-tumorigenic effects through inhibition of cellular proliferation, and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Stemness and Anti-Cancer Drug Resistance in ABCG2 Highly Expressed Pancreatic Cancer Is Induced on 3D-Culture Condition

The authors compared the characteristics of low ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (ABCG2^–) and high (ABCG2⁺)-ABCG2-expressing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells after cell sorting. In adherent culture condition, human PDAC cells, PANC-1, contained approximately 10% ABCG2⁺ cell populations, and ABCG2⁺ cells displayed more and longer microvilli compared with ABCG2^– cells. [Cancer Sci] Abstract

Metastatic Ability and the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Induced Cancer Stem-Like Hepatoma Cells

Cancer stem-like cells were induced from a human hepatoma cell line in a unique medium containing neural survival factor-1. Splenic injection of cells into immune-deficient mice was used to assess hematogenous liver metastasis. [Cancer Sci] Abstract

The Glycosyltransferase ST6Gal-I Is Enriched in Cancer Stem-Like Cells in Colorectal Carcinoma and Contributes to Their Chemo-Resistance

ST6 beta-galactoside alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase 1 (ST6Gal-I) levels were determined in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) specimens, compared to paired normal colorectal tissue, and examined in CD133⁺ vs CD133⁻ CRC cells, and CD44⁺ vs CD44⁻ CRC cells. [Clin Transl Oncol] Abstract

Evaluation of the Effect of Hyperthermia and Electron Radiation on Prostate Cancer Stem Cells

Researchers investigated the effect of hyperthermia, 6 MeV electron radiation and combination of these treatments on cancer cell line DU145 in both monolayer culture and spheroids enriched for prostate CSCs. [Radiat Environ Biophys] Abstract

Metabolic Features of Cancer Stem Cells: The Emerging Role of Lipid Metabolism

The authors describe metabolic futures of CSCs with a special focus on lipid metabolism, which until now represents an underappreciated force in maintaining CSCs and an attractive therapeutic target. [Oncogene] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the cancer stem cell research field.

Pitt, UPMC Announce $200 Million Immunotherapy Investment, Creation of Innovation Facility

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced plans to establish the new UPMC Immune Transplant and Therapy Center, with much of its activity planned within an eight-story innovation hub—all part of a concerted effort to harness the power of the human immune system to treat and cure a wide range of diseases. [The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center] Press Release

Cancer Research UK to Invest £45 Million in Clinical Trials

Cancer Research UK announced that £45 million will be invested into its network of clinical trials units across the UK, one of the charity’s largest investments in clinical research to date. [Cancer Research UK] Press Release

UK Scientists Brace for Disruption as Huge Academic Strike Set to Begin

Tens of thousands of UK researchers are expected to walk out of their universities in a nationwide strike over pensions that is likely to disrupt scientific experiments, conferences and lectures. [Nature News] Editorial

Biden Blasts Science Denialists, Calls to Dramatically Speed Up Fight against Cancer

Fresh off a plane from the NATO meeting in Munich, where he’d conferred with world leaders on global defense, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden issued a forceful call here last night to build on the “Cancer Moonshot” he started while in the White House and transform the way the world fights cancer. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Trump’s Science Advisor, Age 31, Has a Political Science Degree

A job that’s been held by some of the nation’s top scientists is now occupied by a 31-year-old politics major from Princeton University. And it’s unlikely to change soon, observers say, leaving President Trump without a science advisor as the administration wrestles with a severe outbreak of the flu, lead-poisoned drinking water and record-breaking disasters that many scientists say are sharpened by rising temperatures. [Scientific American] Editorial

NEW Gordon Research Conferences: Notch Signaling in Development, Regeneration and Disease
July 22-27, 2018
Lewiston, Maine, United States

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

NEW Bioinformatician/Senior Bioinformatician – Cancer Research (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute)

Assistant/Associate Investigator/Professor – Gastrointestinal Cancers (Baylor Scott & White Research Institute)

Senior Bioinformatician – Cancer Research (Children´s Cancer Research Institute)

PhD Program – Cellular Biology (Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Biology (Johns Hopkins University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Stem Cell Biology (Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center)

Postdoctoral Associate – Cerebral Organoids and Tumor Stem Cell Biology (Weill Cornell Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Biology (University of Pennsylvania)

Postdoctoral Associate – Control of Metastasis/Cancer Stem Cell Regulation (University of Miami)

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

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