Article
Oncology
Parisa Vasefifar, Souzan Najafi, Rouhollah Motafakkerazad, Mohammad Amini, Sahar Safaei, Basira Najafzadeh, Hajar Alemohammad, Mahdi Jafarlou, Behzad Baradaran
Summary: Regardless of advances in cancer treatment, gastric cancer incidence is increasing globally. Nanog, as a transcription factor involved in stemness, plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis, metastasis, and chemosensitivity. This study evaluated the effects of Nanog suppression on cisplatin chemosensitivity and tumorigenesis in gastric cancer cells. The findings showed that Nanog overexpression correlated with poor survival in gastric cancer patients, while Nanog silencing increased cell sensitivity to cisplatin through apoptosis induction, inhibited cell migration, and reduced CD44 and SOX-2 expression. Overall, Nanog may be a promising target for improving gastric cancer outcomes with cisplatin-based therapies.
EXPERIMENTAL CELL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Paulina M. Wojnarowicz, Marta Garcia Escolano, Yun-Han Huang, Bina Desai, Yvette Chin, Riddhi Shah, Sijia Xu, Saurabh Yadav, Sergey Yaklichkin, Ouathek Ouerfelli, Rajesh Kumar Soni, John Philip, David C. Montrose, John H. Healey, Vinagolu K. Rajasekhar, William A. Garland, Jeremy Ratiu, Yuan Zhuang, Larry Norton, Neal Rosen, Ronald C. Hendrickson, Xi Kathy Zhou, Antonio Iavarone, Joan Massague, Andrew J. Dannenberg, Anna Lasorella, Robert Benezra
Summary: AGX51 targets ID proteins in cancer cells, inhibiting cell growth and enhancing ROS production, showing potential therapeutic effects for multiple cancers.
Article
Cell Biology
Yuan Gao, Ji Dong, Shuyue Qi, Xin Zhou, Xinglong Wu, Wendong Wang, Lu Wen, Wei Fu, Fuchou Tang
Summary: By establishing a culture system for adult human gastric epithelial progenitor-like cells, this study investigates the self-renewal and differentiation potentials of human gastric epithelial stem/progenitor cells and their relevance to gastric diseases.
CELL PROLIFERATION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nicholas P. Mullin, Joby Varghese, Douglas Colby, Julia M. Richardson, Greg M. Findlay, Ian Chambers
Summary: The self-renewal efficiency of mouse embryonic stem cells is controlled by the concentration of the transcription factor NANOG, which is phosphorylated by casein kinase I at specific residues. Phosphomimetic substitutions at certain phosphorylation sites within NANOG have site-specific functional effects, influencing DNA binding and LIF-independent self-renewal. Modeling the DNA-homeodomain complex helps explain the diverse effects of these substitutions, showing how phosphorylation may impact NANOG interactions crucial for ESC self-renewal.
Article
Cell Biology
Yaxin Qi, Jun Wei, Xiaobo Zhang
Summary: The transcription factor NME2 plays a crucial role in maintaining the stemness of gastric cancer stem cells by suppressing apoptosis and enhancing the expression of anti-apoptosis genes. This study provides a new perspective on the relationship between transcription factors and the stemness maintenance of gastric cancer stem cells.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2021)
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
T. Nakano, K. A. Warner, A. E. Oklejas, Z. Zhang, C. Rodriguez-Ramirez, A. G. Shuman, J. E. Nor
Summary: This study demonstrated the therapeutic potential of mTOR inhibitors in targeting cisplatin-resistant cancer stem cells in salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Combining mTOR inhibitors with platinum-based chemotherapy may offer a promising treatment strategy for patients with advanced MEC.
JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Ziga Avsec, Melanie Weilert, Avanti Shrikumar, Sabrina Krueger, Amr Alexandari, Khyati Dalal, Robin Fropf, Charles McAnany, Julien Gagneur, Anshul Kundaje, Julia Zeitlinger
Summary: This study introduces a deep learning model, BPNet, which utilizes DNA sequences to predict base-resolution chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-nexus binding profiles of pluripotency TFs. Interpretation tools were developed to learn predictive motif representations and identify soft syntax rules for cooperative TF binding interactions. Results show that Nanog preferentially binds with helical periodicity, and TFs often cooperate in a directional manner.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Liang Hao, Jia-Mei Wang, Bao-Qin Liu, Jing Yan, Chao Li, Jing-Yi Jiang, Fu-Ying Zhao, Huai-Yu Qiao, Hua-Qin Wang
Summary: TRIM29 expression is upregulated in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells and clinical tissues, and is associated with poor prognosis. TRIM29 enhances the CSC-like characteristics of ovarian cancer cells, while knockdown of YTHDF1 suppresses these traits. The study suggests TRIM29 and YTHDF1 may serve as potential therapeutic targets for combating ovarian cancer recurrence.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Tiana, Elena Lopez-Jimenez, Julio Sainz de Aja, Antonio Barral, Jesus Victorino, Claudio Badia-Careaga, Isabel Rollan, Raquel Rouco, Elisa Santos, Hector Sanchez-Iranzo, Rafael D. Acemel, Carlos Torroja, Javier Adan, Eduardo Andres-Leon, Jose Luis Gomez-Skarmeta, Giovanna Giovinazzo, Fatima Sanchez-Cabo, Miguel Manzanares
Summary: Pluripotent cells have a dual role in regulating lineage specification, initially repressing the expression of lineage specifiers and later being required for their proper activation. This study also demonstrates that Oct4 is necessary for the activation of HoxB genes during differentiation of embryonic stem cells and in the embryo.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bangtian Xu, Tingting Tong, Xin Wang, Fang Liu, Xiang Zhang, Xiaolei Hu, Xinpeng Li, Xiaolan Yang, Fei Liao
Summary: The linking of ethacrynic acid with ethylenediamine and 1,4-butanediamine produced EDEA and BDEA, which are membrane-permeable divalent pro-inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase (GST). Their divalent glutathione conjugates showed strong inhibition and binding to GSTmu (GSTM) at a fast rate. The activities of GSTM increased in cisplatin-resistant cells compared to susceptible parental cells when probed with BDEA or EDEA. BDEA and EDEA have the potential to be lead compounds for studying cellular GSTM and sensitizing cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancers.
JOURNAL OF ENZYME INHIBITION AND MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
A. Fatehullah, Y. Terakado, S. Sagiraju, T. L. Tan, T. Sheng, S. H. Tan, K. Murakami, Y. Swathi, N. Ang, R. Rajarethinam, T. Ming, P. Tan, B. Lee, N. Barker
Summary: Researchers developed transgenic and orthotopic mouse models to recapitulate advanced human gastric cancer, uncovering a mechanistic role for Lgr5(+) stem-like cells in promoting disease initiation and progression. These models accurately recapitulate advanced human gastric cancer characteristics and demonstrate the critical role of tumor-resident Lgr5(+) stem-like cells.
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Reproductive Biology
Katie K. Crean-Tate, Chad Braley, Goutam Dey, Emily Esakov, Caner Saygin, Alexandria Trestan, Daniel J. Silver, Soumya M. Turaga, Elizabeth V. Connor, Robert DeBernardo, Chad M. Michener, Peter G. Rose, Justin Lathia, Ofer Reizes
Summary: Therapeutic targeting of cisplatin resistant endometrioid ovarian cancer through LCKi treatment followed by LCKi-cisplatin combination therapy leads to chemosensitization to platinum chemotherapy, demonstrating increased cell viability and apoptosis, and slowed tumor growth in vivo.
JOURNAL OF OVARIAN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biology
Sisi Zhang, Rachel W. S. Chan, Ernest H. Y. Ng, William S. B. Yeung
Summary: Notch signaling plays a key role in maintaining the quiescent state of endometrial mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (eMSC), and is influenced by Notch and Wnt signaling from the microenvironment.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Elena Carbognin, Valentina Carlini, Francesco Panariello, Martina Chieregato, Elena Guerzoni, Davide Benvegnu, Valentina Perrera, Cristina Malucelli, Marcella Cesana, Antonio Grimaldi, Margherita Mutarelli, Annamaria Carissimo, Eitan Tannenbaum, Hillel Kugler, Jamie A. Hackett, Davide Cacchiarelli, Graziano Martello
Summary: Carbognin et al. found that ESRRB is essential for the activation of formative genes during the transition of naive embryonic stem cells to a formative state. Inactivation of Esrrb leads to abnormal expression of specific markers and impairs the ability of the cells to self-organize. ESRRB occupies key formative genes in both naive cells and throughout the formative state, kickstarting the formative transition and enabling unbiased multi-lineage differentiation.
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Homa Fatma, Hifzur R. Siddique, Santosh K. Maurya
Summary: NANOG is a gene mainly expressed during embryonic development and plays a role in generating stem cells and promoting tumor cell growth. Upregulation of NANOG in various cancers has been linked to proliferation, metastasis, invasion, and chemoresistance. Targeting NANOG may be a potential therapeutic strategy to halt cancer progression and resensitize resistant cancer cells to conventional therapies.