Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 8.04 | Feb 6 2019

TOP STORY

Neutrophils Escort Circulating Tumor Cells to Enable Cell Cycle Progression

Scientists isolated and characterized individual circulating tumor cell (CTC)-associated white blood cells (WBCs), as well as corresponding cancer cells within each CTC-WBC cluster, from patients with breast cancer and from mouse models. They used single-cell RNA sequencing to show that in the majority of these cases, CTCs were associated with neutrophils. [Nature] Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

De Novo PITX1 Expression Controls Bi-Stable Transcriptional Circuits to Govern Self-Renewal and Differentiation in Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Researchers showed that PITX1 was specifically expressed in tumor propagating cells, where it co-localized with SOX2 and TRP63 and determined cell fate in mouse and human squamous cell carcinoma. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract

Stress-Induced Epinephrine Enhances Lactate Dehydrogenase A and Promotes Breast Cancer Stem-Like Cells

Using an immunodeficient murine system, the authors showed that chronic stress-induced epinephrine promoted breast cancer stem-like properties via lactate dehydrogenase A-dependent metabolic rewiring. [J Clin Invest] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

A Novel Method for Detecting the Cellular Stemness State in Normal and Leukemic Human Hematopoietic Cells Can Predict Disease Outcome and Drug Sensitivity

Using a novel reporter, researchers revealed cellular heterogeneity in several leukemia cell lines and patient-derived samples. Alterations in reporter activity were associated with transcriptomic and functional changes that were closely related to hematopoietic stem cell identity. [Leukemia] Abstract

WNT Signaling Modulates PD-L1 Expression in the Stem Cell Compartment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Investigators report that human triple-negative breast cancers molecularly stratified for high levels of programmed death-1 ligand (PD-L1) showed significantly enriched expression of immune and cancer stemness pathways compared with those with low PD-L1 expression. [Oncogene] Full Article

FOXD3 Suppresses Tumor‐Initiating Features in Lung Cancer via Transcriptional Repression of WDR5

Scientists demonstrated that down‐regulation of FOXD3 in tumor‐initiating cells (TICs) was positively correlated with higher histologic grades and positive lymph node metastasis. FOXD3 repressed TIC expansion and cell migration, drug resistance and osteoclasts in vitro and in vivo. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Inhibition of Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics by α‐Mangostin: Molecular Mechanisms Involving Sonic Hedgehog and Nanog

The authors demonstrated that α‐Mangostin inhibited cell proliferation in pancreatic CSCs and cancer cell lines while it showed no effect on human pancreatic normal ductal epithelial cells. [J Cell Mol Med] Full Article

SIX1 Represses Senescence and Promotes SOX2-Mediated Cellular Plasticity during Tumorigenesis

Using transcriptomic, histological, and functional analyses in murine tumors and cells of fibroblast origin, investigators showed that SIX1 had a strong pro-tumorigenic action in this model, linked to the repression of a senescence-related gene signature and the induction of an undifferentiated phenotype mediated, at least in part, by the regulation of the stemness factor Sox2. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The circINTS4/miR-146b/CARMA3 Axis Promotes Tumorigenesis in Bladder Cancer

Researchers applied bioinformatics methods and hypothesized that miR-146b may target the 3′-untranslated region of CARMA3 mRNA and circular RNA (circ)INTS4 may serve as a sponge for miR-146b in bladder cancer (BC) tumorigenesis. Expression of circINTS4 was significantly increased in miR-146b-downregulated BC tissues and cell lines compared to adjacent normal tissues. [Cancer Gene Ther] Abstract

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Autophagy and Cancer Stem Cells: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Applications

The authors dive into the deep water of autophagy, mitophagy, and CSCs and offer novel viewpoints on possible therapeutic strategies, based on the modulation of these degradative systems. [Cell Death Differ] Full Article

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

Predictive Markers of Survival Identified for Next Generation Cancer Stem Cell Vaccine

AIVITA Biomedical, Inc. announced important findings which indicate a mechanism of action for its ROOT OF CANCER technology. Serum biomarker analyses and in vitro cellular modeling performed with cancer patient samples collected in a randomized Phase II clinical trial demonstrated a statistically significant association between long-term survival and activation of a specific subset of lymphocytes. [AIVITA Biomedical, Inc.] Press Release

Actinium Initiates Novel Phase I/II Combination Trial of Actimab-A and Venetoclax

Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that its novel Phase I/II combination trial of Actimab-A and venetoclax has been initiated. [Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

University of California Staff Researchers Opt to Form a Union, Joining Postdocs

After five years as a postdoc—four of them at the University of California, Los Angeles—molecular biologist Christina Priest hit the university’s time limit for postdoctoral appointments and transitioned to a university staff position as a project scientist in the same lab. Now an at-will employee in a job with no set end time, she says she finds her work “continuing the project I initiated as a postdoc … not enormously different, [despite] more responsibility.” [Science Careers] Editorial

Thousands of Scientists Run Up against Elsevier’s Paywall

Researchers at German institutions that have let their Elsevier subscriptions lapse while negotiating a new deal are hitting the paywall for the publisher’s most recent articles around 10,000 times a day, according to Elsevier — which publishes more than 400,000 papers each year. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Cell Symposia: Hallmarks of Cancer
November 17-19, 2019
Seattle, Washington, United States

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NEW Postdoctoral Positions – Stem Cell and Cancer Biology (Columbia University Irving Medical Center)

Tenure Track Faculty Position – Cancer Biology & Therapeutics (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth)

Postdoctoral Position – Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells (University of Minnesota)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cell Aging and Cancer (University of California – San Francisco)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Epigenetics and Cancer (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cells, Development and Cancer (Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University)

Computational Biologist – Cancer Research (University of Miami)

Postdoctoral Associate – Pediatrics, Cancer Biology (University of Massachusetts)

Postdoctoral Position – Colon Cancer (Vanderbilt University)

Assistant Professor – Cancer Biology (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine)

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