Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Juliane Strietz, Stella S. Stepputtis, Marie Follo, Peter Bronsert, Elmar Stickeler, Jochen Maurer
Summary: Primary breast cancer stem cell (BCSC) cultures isolated from TNBC specimens have been established and shown to grow as tumor spheres under anchorage-independent culture conditions in vitro, while reliably forming tumors in mice when transplanted in limiting dilutions in vivo. Additionally, these BCSC xenograft tumors exhibit similar architecture and gene expression to the original patient tumor, suggesting a promising model for researching BCSC biology and testing new treatment options for TNBC.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rodrigo A. Acuna, Manuel Varas-Godoy, Diego Herrera-Sepulveda, Mauricio A. Retamal
Summary: Connexins are a family of proteins that play a crucial role in cellular communication, but certain types may have pro-tumorigenic effects. Research has shown that Cx46 can modulate the characteristics of cancer stem cells and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells, potentially influencing future cancer therapies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Oncology
Xiaobo Zheng, Fuzhen Dai, Lei Feng, Hong Zou, Li Feng, Mingqing Xu
Summary: The interplay between epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity and cancer stem cells plays a crucial role in cancer progression, affecting the aggressiveness of tumor cells and their response to treatment. Understanding the dynamic nature of EMT as a hybrid state rather than a binary model is important for unraveling the complexities of cancer biology and developing targeted therapeutic interventions.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Oncology
Chenglong Pan, Anqi Xu, Xiaoling Ma, Yanfei Yao, Youmei Zhao, Chunyan Wang, Ceshi Chen
Summary: Claudin-low breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer with distinct molecular characteristics and clinical features, and studying this subtype is of great importance for personalized treatment of breast cancer.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Oncology
Barbora Kvokackova, Jan Remsik, Mohit Kumar Jolly, Karel Soucek
Summary: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) play critical roles in the development of TNBC, shaping aggressive and heterogeneous biological features, but may also contribute to the progression of metastatic disease.
Review
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Shuo Zhang, Neng Zhu, Hong Fang Li, Jia Gu, Chan Juan Zhang, Duan Fang Liao, Li Qin
Summary: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation of cancer cells with stem cell properties, and lipid rafts play a crucial role in CSCs, making them promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.
STEM CELL RESEARCH & THERAPY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Deguang Kong, Hengbo Zhou, Deepika Neelakantan, Connor J. Hughes, Jessica Y. Hsu, Ramakrishnan Rajaram Srinivasan, Michael T. Lewis, Heide L. Ford
Summary: VEGF-C secreted by EMT breast cancer cells can promote proliferation, migration, and invasion of epithelial breast cancer cells through non-canonical activation of GLI signaling. Inhibiting VEGF-C in EMT cells or knocking down NRP2 in neighboring epithelial cancer cells disrupts the aggressive phenotypes induced by EMT cells, suggesting a novel therapeutic target for metastasis in breast cancer.
Article
Oncology
Ioannis A. Voutsadakis
Summary: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with various subtypes. The claudin-low subtype is associated with molecular alterations that contribute to a pro-metastatic phenotype. This study analyzed claudin-low breast cancer cases and compared them with cases without this phenotype. Significant differences in molecular alterations were found between these groups, which may have implications for targeted therapies and clinical trial design.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lu Zhang, Wenmin Chen, Suling Liu, Ceshi Chen
Summary: The potential roles of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) in tumor initiation and recurrence have been recognized for many decades. Due to their strong capacity for self-renewal and differentiation, BCSCs are the major reasons for poor clinical outcomes and low therapeutic response. Several hypotheses on the origin of cancer stem cells have been proposed, including critical gene mutations in stem cells, dedifferentiation of somatic cells, and cell plasticity remodeling by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, the tumor microenvironment, including cellular components and cytokines, modulates the self-renewal and therapeutic resistance of BCSCs. Small molecules, antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells targeting BCSCs have been developed, and their applications in combination with conventional therapies are undergoing clinical trials. In this review, we focus on the features of BCSCs, emphasize the major factors and tumor environment that regulate the stemness of BCSCs, and discuss potential BCSC-targeting therapies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Oncology
Evan M. McCabe, Theodore P. Rasmussen
Summary: The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process crucial in embryogenesis, where cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a role by differentiating and undergoing EMT. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) also have a role in CSCs and EMT, with the potential to serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer progression.
SEMINARS IN CANCER BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Integrative & Complementary Medicine
Ting Liu, Kangdi Li, Zhenxing Zhang, Jinghui Peng, Jingzhao Yang, Betty Yuen Kwan Law, Xin Liu, Wenhua Li
Summary: In this study, the efficacy of tetrandrine in targeting cancer stemness and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) was evaluated. Tetrandrine exhibited antiproliferative and cell cycle arrest activities, reduced cancer stem cell population, prevented mammosphere formation, and suppressed cell migration and invasion. It was found that tetrandrine downregulated SOD1 and catalase expression, induced ROS production, and inhibited EMT and stemness in TNBC cells.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CHINESE MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shunhao Wang, Jingchao Li, Mei Chen, Liting Ren, Wenya Feng, Lining Xu, Xiaolan Chen, Tian Xia, Nanfeng Zheng, Sijin Liu
Summary: Palladium nanoplates inhibit lung metastasis by suppressing EMT signaling in breast cancer cells and interacting with TGF-beta proteins, leading to reduced downstream signaling activation. NIR irradiation enhances the inhibitory effects of PdPL on both primary tumors and metastasis.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2021)
Review
Cell Biology
Alejandro Ordaz-Ramos, Olivia Tellez-Jimenez, Karla Vazquez-Santillan
Summary: Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are a specific subpopulation of cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation into diverse tumor cells. The involvement of cancer stem cells in treatment resistance and cancer recurrence is well established. Specific signaling pathways, such as Wnt/beta-catenin, NF-kappa B, Notch, Hedgehog, TGF-beta, and Hippo, play crucial roles in regulating the self-renewal ability of cancer stem cells. Targeting these signaling pathways holds promise as a therapeutic strategy for combating breast cancer aggressiveness. This review discusses the main signaling pathways involved in maintaining the self-renewal ability of BCSCs and highlights current strategies to disrupt stemness-related signaling molecules.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Uyen Q. Le, Nanyue Chen, Seetharaman Balasenthil, Eugene Lurie, Fei Yang, Suyu Liu, Laura Rubin, Luisa Maren Solis Soto, Maria Gabriela Raso, Harsh Batra, Aysegul A. Sahin, Ignacio I. Wistuba, Ann McNeill Killary
Summary: This study demonstrates that the tumor suppressor DEAR1/TRIM62 is a critical regulator of luminal cell fate, maintaining luminal differentiation and inhibiting stem cell properties and generation of basal-like progenitor populations. DEAR1 loss leads to enhanced mammosphere formation and accelerated luminal-basal transition. Additionally, DEAR1 could serve as a biomarker for prognostic diagnosis and targeted stem cell therapies in early onset TNBCs.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Chang Xu, Yu-han Ding, Kun Wang, Mengdi Hao, Huimin Li, Lei Ding
Summary: The study demonstrates that Cldn7 deficiency in CRC promotes stemness properties through Sox9-mediated Wnt/beta -catenin signaling. This finding elucidates the inhibitory role of Cldn7 in CRC and reveals a potential molecular mechanism, contributing to further research on Cldn7 and cancer stem cells.
JOURNAL OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2021)
