scholarly journals Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition and Cancer Stem Cells: At the Crossroads of Differentiation and Dedifferentiation

2018 ◽  
Vol 248 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanmin Wang ◽  
Juli J. Unternaehrer
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Differentiation And Dedifferentiation

scholarly journals The microRNA-210-Stathmin1 Axis Decreases Cell Stiffness to Facilitate the Invasiveness of Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1833
Author(s):  
Tsai-Tsen Liao ◽  
Wei-Chung Cheng ◽  
Chih-Yung Yang ◽  
Yin-Quan Chen ◽  
Shu-Han Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Cell Motility ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Cell Stiffness ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Cytoskeletal Dynamics ◽  
Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells

Cell migration is critical for regional dissemination and distal metastasis of cancer cells, which remain the major causes of poor prognosis and death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Although cytoskeletal dynamics and cellular deformability contribute to the migration of cancer cells and metastasis, the mechanisms governing the migratory ability of cancer stem cells (CSCs), a nongenetic source of tumor heterogeneity, are unclear. Here, we expanded colorectal CSCs (CRCSCs) as colonospheres and showed that CRCSCs exhibited higher cell motility in transwell migration assays and 3D invasion assays and greater deformability in particle tracking microrheology than did their parental CRC cells. Mechanistically, in CRCSCs, microRNA-210-3p (miR-210) targeted stathmin1 (STMN1), which is known for inducing microtubule destabilization, to decrease cell elasticity in order to facilitate cell motility without affecting the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) status. Clinically, the miR-210-STMN1 axis was activated in CRC patients with liver metastasis and correlated with a worse clinical outcome. This study elucidates a miRNA-oriented mechanism regulating the deformability of CRCSCs beyond the EMT process.

scholarly journals Counteracting Chemoresistance with Metformin in Breast Cancers: Targeting Cancer Stem Cells

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2482
Author(s):  
Samson Mathews Samuel ◽  
Elizabeth Varghese ◽  
Lenka Koklesová ◽  
Alena Líšková ◽  
Peter Kubatka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Acquired Resistance ◽  
Breast Cancers ◽  
Intrinsic Resistance ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Cancer Breast

Despite the leaps and bounds in achieving success in the management and treatment of breast cancers through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, breast cancer remains the most frequently occurring cancer in women and the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Systemic therapeutic approaches, such as chemotherapy, although beneficial in treating and curing breast cancer subjects with localized breast tumors, tend to fail in metastatic cases of the disease due to (a) an acquired resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug and (b) the development of intrinsic resistance to therapy. The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) plays a crucial role in both acquired and intrinsic chemoresistance. CSCs are less abundant than terminally differentiated cancer cells and confer chemoresistance through a unique altered metabolism and capability to evade the immune response system. Furthermore, CSCs possess active DNA repair systems, transporters that support multidrug resistance (MDR), advanced detoxification processes, and the ability to self-renew and differentiate into tumor progenitor cells, thereby supporting cancer invasion, metastasis, and recurrence/relapse. Hence, current research is focusing on targeting CSCs to overcome resistance and improve the efficacy of the treatment and management of breast cancer. Studies revealed that metformin (1, 1-dimethylbiguanide), a widely used anti-hyperglycemic agent, sensitizes tumor response to various chemotherapeutic drugs. Metformin selectively targets CSCs and improves the hypoxic microenvironment, suppresses the tumor metastasis and inflammation, as well as regulates the metabolic programming, induces apoptosis, and reverses epithelial–mesenchymal transition and MDR. Here, we discuss cancer (breast cancer) and chemoresistance, the molecular mechanisms of chemoresistance in breast cancers, and metformin as a chemo-sensitizing/re-sensitizing agent, with a particular focus on breast CSCs as a critical contributing factor to acquired and intrinsic chemoresistance. The review outlines the prospects and directions for a better understanding and re-purposing of metformin as an anti-cancer/chemo-sensitizing drug in the treatment of breast cancer. It intends to provide a rationale for the use of metformin as a combinatory therapy in a clinical setting.

scholarly journals Salinomycin as a Drug for Targeting Human Cancer Stem Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cord Naujokat ◽  
Roman Steinhart
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Human Cancer ◽  
Drug Transporters ◽  
Molecular Complexes ◽  
Cancer Therapies ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Heavily Pretreated ◽  
Preclinical Trials

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a subpopulation of tumor cells that possess self-renewal and tumor initiation capacity and the ability to give rise to the heterogenous lineages of malignant cells that comprise a tumor. CSCs possess multiple intrinsic mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, novel tumor-targeted drugs, and radiation therapy, allowing them to survive standard cancer therapies and to initiate tumor recurrence and metastasis. Various molecular complexes and pathways that confer resistance and survival of CSCs, including expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) drug transporters, activation of the Wnt/β-catenin, Hedgehog, Notch and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways, and acquisition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), have been identified recently. Salinomycin, a polyether ionophore antibiotic isolated fromStreptomyces albus, has been shown to kill CSCs in different types of human cancers, most likely by interfering with ABC drug transporters, the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, and other CSC pathways. Promising results from preclinical trials in human xenograft mice and a few clinical pilote studies reveal that salinomycin is able to effectively eliminate CSCs and to induce partial clinical regression of heavily pretreated and therapy-resistant cancers. The ability of salinomycin to kill both CSCs and therapy-resistant cancer cells may define the compound as a novel and an effective anticancer drug.

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