Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 7.13 | Apr 4 2018

TOP STORY

Distinctive Epigenomes Characterize Glioma Stem Cells and Their Response to Differentiation Cues

Scientists isolated glioma stem cells from well-characterized glioblastoma patient-derived xenografts, characterized their stemness properties using immunofluorescence staining, profiled their epigenome including 5mC, 5hmC, 5fC/5caC, and two enhancer marks, and defined their transcriptome. [Genome Biol] Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

The Asymmetrically Segregating lncRNA Cherub Is Required for Transforming Stem Cells into Malignant Cells

During tumorigenesis, de-differentiation of cherub-high cells lead to the formation of tumorigenic stem cells that accumulated abnormally high cherub levels. Investigators showed that cherub established a molecular link between the RNA-binding proteins Staufen and Syncrip. [eLife] Full Article

HOXB7 Overexpression in Lung Cancer Is a Hallmark of Acquired Stem-Like Phenotype

Researchers found that HOXB7 upregulated several canonical stem cell (SC)/induced pluripotent stem cell markers and sustained the expansion of a subpopulation of cells with SC characteristics, through modulation of LIN28B, an emerging cancer gene and pluripotency factor, which they discovered to be a direct target of HOXB7. [Oncogene] Abstract

Alternative Splice Variants of DCLK1 Mark Cancer Stem Cells, Promote Self-Renewal and Drug-Resistance, and Can Be Targeted to Inhibit Tumorigenesis in Kidney Cancer

Scientists used bioinformatics, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, spheroid self-renewal, and chemoresistance assays in combination with overexpression and siRNA-knockdown to study the stem cell-supportive role of doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) alternative splice variants in renal cell carcinoma. [Int J Cancer] Abstract

Gallium Maltolate Disrupts Tumor Iron Metabolism and Retards the Growth of Glioblastoma by Inhibiting Mitochondrial Function and Ribonucleotide Reductase

Investigators showed that U-87 MG and D54 glioblastoma cell lines and multiple glioblastoma stem cell lines express transferrin receptors and that their growth is inhibited by gallium maltolate in vitro. [Mol Cancer Ther] Abstract

PGD2/PTGDR2 Signaling Restricts the Self-Renewal and Tumorigenesis of Gastric Cancer

Researchers discovered that signaling between prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and its receptor (PTGDR2) has the ability to restrict the self-renewal of gastric cancer cells in vitro and suppress tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Differentiation Therapy Targeting the β-Catenin/CBP Interaction in Pancreatic Cancer

The authors investigated Wnt-mediated carcinogenesis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). They used the specific small molecule CBP/β-catenin antagonist, ICG-001, to examine its effects in human pancreatic cancer cells in both an orthotopic mouse model and a human patient-derived xenograft model of PDAC. [Cancers] Full Article

Elevated CRB3 Expression Suppresses Breast Cancer Stemness by Inhibiting β-Catenin Signaling to Restore Tamoxifen Sensitivity

Scientists found that most breast cancer patient tissues resistant to tamoxifen were negative for CRB3 protein and positive for β-catenin protein, in contrast to their matched primary tumors by immunohistochemical analysis. [J Cell Mol Med] Full Article

Inflammatory Factor Receptor Toll-Like Receptor 4 Controls Telomeres through Heterochromatin Protein 1 Isoforms in Liver Cancer Stem Cell

Mechanistically, Toll-like receptor 4 promoted the expression of histone-lysine N-methyltransferase and increased the formation of trimethyl histone H3 lysine 9-heterochromatin protein 1-telomere repeat binding factor 2 complex at the telomeric locus under mediation by long non coding RNA urothelial cancer-associated 1. [J Cell Mol Med] Full Article

TGF-β-Mediated LEFTY/Akt/GSK-3β/Snail Axis Modulates Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Cancer Stem Cell Properties in Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinomas

Ovarian clear cell carcinoma cell lines that were cultured in STK2, a serum-free medium for mesenchymal stem cells, or treated with TGF-β1 underwent morphological changes toward an epithelial-mesenchymal transition appearance, along with increased expression of left-right determination factor (LEFTY) and Snail. [Mol Carcinog] Abstract

The Long Noncoding RNA lncZic2 Drives the Self-Renewal of Liver Tumor-Initiating Cells via the Protein Kinase C Substrates MARCKS and MARCKSL1

Using expression profiling and CRISPR-interference assays with clinical samples of human liver cancers, investigators identified a long noncoding RNA, lncZic2, that is located near the Zic family member 2 locus and was highly expressed in liver cancer and liver tumor-initiating cells. [J Biol Chem] Abstract | Full Article

Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Mediates the Suppressive Effects of Diallyl Trisulfide on Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells

The levels of colorectal CSCs markers were elevated in the tumorspheres cells. DATS efficiently suppressed the activity of colorectal CSCs, as evidenced by reducing the size and number of colonspheres, decreasing the expression of colorectal CSCs markers, promoting apoptosis and inhibiting the proliferation of colorectal CSCs. [Cancer Chemother Pharmacol] Abstract

EP4 as a Therapeutic Target for Aggressive Human Breast Cancer

The authors summarize the signaling pathways utilized by the EP (prostaglandin E receptor) family of G-protein-coupled receptor, their physiological and pathological roles in carcinogenesis, with special emphasis on the roles of EP4 in breast cancer progression. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article

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

AbbVie Announces Results from Phase II Study Evaluating Rovalpituzumab Tesirine (Rova-T) for Third-Line Treatment of Patients with DLL3-Expressing Relapsed/Refractory Small Cell Lung Cancer

AbbVie announced that after consulting with the FDA, it will not seek accelerated approval for Rova-T in third-line relapsed/refractory small cell lung cancer based on magnitude of effect across multiple parameters in this single-arm study. [AbbVie Inc.] Press Release

Cellectar Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent Covering CLR 131 Use in Multiple Myeloma

Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. P150207US03, entitled “Alkylphosphocholine analogs for multiple myeloma imaging and therapy”. [Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.] Press Release

PharmAbcine Announces FDA Orphan Drug Designation Granted to TTAC-0001 for Glioblastoma Multiforme

PharmAbcine Inc. announced that FDA has granted orphan drug designation to its leading clinical compound TTAC-0001 for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. [PharmAbcine Inc.] Press Release

US FDA Accepts Biologics License Application for Moxetumomab Pasudotox in Hairy Cell Leukemia

AstraZeneca and MedImmune announced that the FDA has accepted the Biologics License Application for moxetumomab pasudotox, an investigational anti-CD22 recombinant immunotoxin and a potential new medicine for the treatment of adult patients with hairy cell leukemia who have received at least two prior lines of therapy. [AstraZeneca] Press Release

2018 March for Science Will Be Far More than Street Protests

The March for Science has matured. It may even have outgrown its name. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Cancer Researchers Push to Relax Rules for Clinical Trials

US government examines whether criteria for participating in drug studies unnecessarily exclude some people. [Nature News] Editorial

EU Copyright Reforms Draw Fire from Scientists

An influential committee of the European Parliament is due to vote on changes to copyright regulations in the European Union (EU), but the latest drafts of the rules have triggered a wave of criticism from open-science advocates. They say that the proposals will stifle research and scholarly communication. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 19^th World Conference on Lung Cancer
September 23-26, 2018
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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

NEW Professor – Cancer Stem Cell Research (Cardiff University)

Postdoctoral Position – Cancer, Immunotherapy, and Fibrosis (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Research Scientist – Gynecologic Cancers (The UCLA G.O. Discovery Laboratory)

Postdoctoral Positions – Cancer Phylogenetics (Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cells and Breast Cancer (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Position – Cancer Research (German Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Leukemia and Cancer Biology (Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Cell and Molecular Biology (Canadian Nuclear Laboratories)

Postdoctoral Positions – Cancer Research (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

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

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

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