Newsletters

[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil] Dr. Melissa Troester received a Leadership Grant from Susan G. Komen as part of a continuing commitment to accelerating breast cancer research. The new grant will support Troester’s advances in spatial biology – an understanding of how distances between cancer cells and immune cells alter breast cancer outcomes.

[Stem Cell Reviews and Reports] Researchers outline an integrative framework connecting ferroptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition plasticity, tunneling nanotube-mediated communication and CSC dynamics, offering insights into novel strategies to overcome therapeutic resistance, prevent metastatic dissemination and limit tumor relapse.

[Endocrine-Related Cancer] The authors summarize current evidence implicating pituitary stem cells and tumor stem-like populations in pituitary tumor biology, including potential roles in tumor initiation, maintenance and progression.

[Discover Oncology] This research seeks to clarify how miR-34a-5p influences CSC characteristics and resistance to cisplatin (DDP) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). By targeting the KRT5/DSP axis, miR-34a-5p was shown to suppress CSC properties and enhance DDP sensitivity in NSCLC cells.

[Journal of Translational Medicine] Scientists proposed a framework in which hepatocytes dedifferentiate into bipotent progenitors as a pre-malignant state, undergo malignant transformation, and a subset acquires stemness through DNA methyltransferase-mediated reprogramming stabilized by epigenetic memory.

[Cellular & Molecular Immunology] Scientists showed that pharmacological inhibition of vimentin trogocytosis increases the efficacy of NK cells in clearing circulating tumor cells in vivo and that of NK cell-based adoptive immunotherapies.

[Cellular Signalling] Researchers investigated the role and molecular mechanism of FK506-binding protein 10 (FKBP10) in regulating osteosarcoma stemness and malignant progression.

[Cell Reports Methods] By co-culturing complex cerebral organoids with glioma stem cells, the authors demonstrated that their model recapitulated the tumor niche of glioblastoma, showing vascular co-option, reprogramming of microglia into tumor-associated macrophages, and recurrence after radiotherapy.

[Cell Death & Disease] Scientists identified that the loss of the polarity protein MALS3 disrupts the homeostasis of mammary epithelial cells while increasing breast cancer stem cell-like properties.

[Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research] Using in vitro functional assays, researchers assessed the effect of ZEB1 down-modulation on stemness, anchorage-independent growth, chemotherapy sensitivity, and osteoblastic differentiation, while gene expression profiling provided hints on ZEB1 regulation of tumor cell transcriptional program.

[Cell Cycle] Scientists revealed that miR-6833-3p drives prostate carcinogenesis and enhances tumor-initiating cell properties through suppression of the NUMB-mediated NOTCH signaling axis

[Molecular Cancer Research] Investigators uncovered a previously unrecognized triad of ERG-driven processes –dedifferentiation, senescence, and inflammation– that may underpin its oncogenic potential and shape prostate cancer initiation and therapeutic response.