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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with a high morbidity and mortality due to its high rate of recurrence. However, little is known about the biological characteristics of recurrent HCC cells. A single patient's primary and recurrent HCC-derived cell lines, Hep-11 and Hep-12, respectively, were established by primary culture. These two cell lines have the same hepatitis B virus integration site and share many common amplifications and deletions, which suggest that they have the same clonal origin. While Hep-11 cells were non-tumorigenic at 16 weeks following injection of up to 10 000 cells, injection of only 100 Hep-12 cells was sufficient to initiate tumor growth, and all single Hep-12 clones were tumorigenic in immunodeficient mice. Compared with Hep-11, Hep-12 cells expressed the oval cell markers AFP, NCAM/CD56, c-kit/CD117, as well as multiple stem cell markers such as Nanog, OCT4 and SOX2. In addition, textgreater90% of Hep-12 cells were aldehyde dehydrogenase positive. They were also less resistant to paclitaxel, but more resistant to doxorubicin, cisplatin and hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT), which had been administrated to the patient. Furthermore, Hep-12 cells expressed higher levels of poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) than Hep-11, and PARP-1 inhibition potentiated the sensitivity to HCPT in Hep-12 cells but not in Hep-11 cells. These results indicate that a large population of the recurrent HCC-derived Hep-12 cells were tumor-initiating cells and that elevated expression of PARP-1 was related to their resistance to HCPT.

The cancer stem cell hypothesis asserts that malignancies arise in tissue stem and/or progenitor cells through the dysregulation or acquisition of self-renewal. In order to determine whether the dietary polyphenols, curcumin, and piperine are able to modulate the self-renewal of normal and malignant breast stem cells, we examined the effects of these compounds on mammosphere formation, expression of the breast stem cell marker aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), and Wnt signaling. Mammosphere formation assays were performed after curcumin, piperine, and control treatment in unsorted normal breast epithelial cells and normal stem and early progenitor cells, selected by ALDH positivity. Wnt signaling was examined using a Topflash assay. Both curcumin and piperine inhibited mammosphere formation, serial passaging, and percent of ALDH+ cells by 50% at 5 microM and completely at 10 microM concentration in normal and malignant breast cells. There was no effect on cellular differentiation. Wnt signaling was inhibited by both curcumin and piperine by 50% at 5 microM and completely at 10 microM. Curcumin and piperine separately, and in combination, inhibit breast stem cell self-renewal but do not cause toxicity to differentiated cells. These compounds could be potential cancer preventive agents. Mammosphere formation assays may be a quantifiable biomarker to assess cancer preventive agent efficacy and Wnt signaling assessment can be a mechanistic biomarker for use in human clinical trials.

Autologous feeder cells have been developed by various methods to minimize the presence of xenogenic entities in human embryonic stem cell (hESC) cultures. However, there was no systematic comparison of supportive effects of the feeder cells on hESC growth, nor comparison to the supportive effects of various feeder-free culture systems and standard mouse feeder cells. In this study, we aimed to compare the supportive abilities of autologous feeders derived either directly from H9 hESCs (H9 dF) or from outgrowth of embryoid body predifferentiated in suspension from H9 hESCs (H9 ebF). Mouse feeder system and matrigel-mTeSR1 feeder-free system were used as controls. H9 ebF was found to secrete more basic fibroblast growth factor in the conditioned medium than H9 dF did. The undifferentiated state of H9 hESCs was sustained more stably on H9 ebF than on H9 dF, and the differentiation potential of H9 hESCs on H9 ebF was higher than on H9 dF. We concluded that H9 ebF was an optimal autologous feeder to maintain the long-term undifferentiated state of hESCs in our current culture system. This study helps to standardize the autologous culture of hESCs. It also suggests a more definite direction for future development of xeno-free culture system for hESCs.

Radiotherapy represents the most effective nonsurgical treatments for gliomas. However, gliomas are highly radioresistant and recurrence is nearly universal. Results from our laboratory and other groups suggest that cancer stem cells contribute to radioresistance in gliomas and breast cancers. The Notch pathway is critically implicated in stem cell fate determination and cancer. In this study, we show that inhibition of Notch pathway with gamma-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) renders the glioma stem cells more sensitive to radiation at clinically relevant doses. GSIs enhance radiation-induced cell death and impair clonogenic survival of glioma stem cells but not non-stem glioma cells. Expression of the constitutively active intracellular domains of Notch1 or Notch2 protect glioma stem cells against radiation. Notch inhibition with GSIs does not alter the DNA damage response of glioma stem cells after radiation but rather reduces Akt activity and Mcl-1 levels. Finally, knockdown of Notch1 or Notch2 sensitizes glioma stem cells to radiation and impairs xenograft tumor formation. Taken together, our results suggest a critical role of Notch signaling to regulate radioresistance of glioma stem cells. Inhibition of Notch signaling holds promise to improve the efficiency of current radiotherapy in glioma treatment.

OBJECTIVES: Hematopoietic stroma promotes resistance to immune control by APO2L/TRAIL in multiple myeloma (MM) cells in part by increasing synthesis of the anti-apoptotic protein c-FLIP. Here, we tested whether bortezomib can reverse the APO2L/TRAIL environmental mediated-immune resistance (EM-IR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: MM cell lines (RPMI 8226 and U266) and CD138+ patient's MM cells were directly adhered to HS5 stroma exposed to HS5 or bone marrow stroma of patients with MM released soluble factors in a transwell system. Cells were treated with either APO2L/TRAIL (10 ng/mL), bortezomib (10 nm) or both. RESULTS: Pretreatment with bortezomib effectively overcomes APO2L/TRAIL apoptosis resistance in myeloma cell lines and in CD138+ cells while directly adhered or in transwell assay. Bortezomib was not cytotoxic to HS5 stroma cells and only altered monocyte chemotactic protein-2-3 and IL-10 levels in the stroma-myeloma milieu. Factors released by HS5 stroma increased expression of c-FLIP, induced STAT-3 and ERK phosphorylation and reduced DR4 receptor expression in MM cells. HS5 stroma-released factor(s) induced NF-kappaB activation after 20 h exposure in association with an enhanced c-FLIP transcription. Bortezomib effectively reduced c-FLIP protein expression without affecting other proteins. Bortezomib also increased DR4 and DR5 expression in the presence of stroma. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide the rationale to combine bortezomib and APO2L/TRAIL to disrupt the influence of the stroma microenvironment on MM cells.

As a drug used to treat imatinib-resistant and -intolerant, chronic and advanced phase chronic myelogenous leukaemia, nilotinib is well characterised as a potent inhibitor of the Abl tyrosine kinase activity of wild-type and imatinib-resistant mutant forms of BCR-Abl. Here we review the profile of nilotinib as a protein kinase inhibitor. Although an ATP-competitive inhibitor of Abl, nilotinib binds to a catalytically inactive conformation (DFG-out) of the activation loop. As a consequence of this, nilotinib exhibits time-dependent inhibition of Abl kinase in enzymatic assays, which can be extrapolated to other targets to explain differences between biochemical activity and cellular assays. Although these differences confound assessment of kinase selectivity, as assessed using a combination of protein binding and transphosphorylation assays, together with cellular autophosporylation and proliferation assays, well established kinase targets of nilotinib in rank order of inhibitory potency are DDR-1textgreaterDDR-2textgreaterBCR-Abl (Abl)textgreaterPDGFRalpha/betatextgreaterKITtextgreaterCSF-1R. In addition nilotinib has now been found to bind to both MAPK11 (p38beta) and MAPK12 (p38alpha), as well as with very high affinity to ZAK kinase. Although neither enzymatic nor cellular data are yet available to substantiate the drug as an inhibitor of ZAK phosphorylation, modeling predicts that it binds in an ATP-competitive fashion.

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are conventionally cultured with Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) to maintain self-renewal.(1) However, LIF is expensive and activation of the LIF/JAK/STAT3 pathway is not absolutely required to maintain the self-renewal state.(2) The SC1 small molecule may be an economical alternative to LIF. SC1 functions through dual inhibition of Ras-GAP and ERK1.(3) Illustration of its mechanism of action makes it a useful tool to study the fundamental molecular mechanism of self-renewal. Here we demonstrate the procedure for culturing mouse ES cells in the presence of SC1 and show that they are able to maintain self-renewal in the absence of LIF. Cells cultured with SC1 showed similar morphology compared to cells maintained with LIF. Both exhibited typical mouse ES morphology after five passages. Expression of typical pluripotency markers (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, and SSEA1) was observed after five passages in the presence of SC1. Furthermore, SC1 caused no overt toxicity on mouse ES cells.

During digestive organogenesis, the primitive gut tube (PGT) undergoes dramatic elongation and forms a lumen lined by a single-layer of epithelium. In Xenopus, endoderm cells in the core of the PGT rearrange during gut elongation, but the morphogenetic mechanisms controlling their reorganization are undetermined. Here, we define the dynamic changes in endoderm cell shape, polarity, and tissue architecture that underlie Xenopus gut morphogenesis. Gut endoderm cells intercalate radially, between their anterior and posterior neighbors, transforming the nearly solid endoderm core into a single layer of epithelium while concomitantly eliciting radially convergent" extension within the gut walls. Inhibition of Rho/ROCK/Myosin II activity prevents endoderm rearrangements and consequently perturbs both gut elongation and digestive epithelial morphogenesis. Our results suggest that the cellular and molecular events driving tissue elongation in the PGT are mechanistically analogous to those that function during gastrulation�

The epithelium of the mammary gland exists in a highly dynamic state, undergoing dramatic morphogenetic changes during puberty, pregnancy, lactation, and regression. The recent identification of stem and progenitor populations in mouse and human mammary tissue has provided evidence that the mammary epithelium is organized in a hierarchical manner. Characterization of these normal epithelial subtypes is an important step toward understanding which cells are predisposed to oncogenesis. This review summarizes progress in the field toward defining constituent cells and key molecular regulators of the mammary epithelial hierarchy. Potential relationships between normal epithelial populations and breast tumor subtypes are discussed, with implications for understanding the cellular etiology underpinning breast tumor heterogeneity.

IL-27 is formed by the association of a cytokine subunit, p28, with the soluble cytokine receptor EBV-induced gene 3 (EBI3). The IL-27R comprises gp130 and WSX-1. The marked difference between EBI3(-/-) and WSX-1(-/-) mice suggests that p28 has functions independent of EBI3. We have identified an alternative secreted complex formed by p28 and the soluble cytokine receptor cytokine-like factor 1 (CLF). Like IL-27, p28/CLF is produced by dendritic cells and is biologically active on human NK cells, increasing IL-12- and IL-2-induced IFN-gamma production and activation marker expression. Experiments with Ba/F3 transfectants indicate that p28/CLF activates cells expressing IL-6Ralpha in addition to the IL-27R subunits. When tested on CD4 and CD8 T cells, p28/CLF induces IL-6Ralpha-dependent STAT1 and STAT3 phosphorylation. Furthermore, p28/CLF inhibits CD4 T cell proliferation and induces IL-17 and IL-10 secretion. These results indicate that p28/CLF may participate in the regulation of NK and T cell functions by dendritic cells. The p28/CLF complex engages IL-6R and may therefore be useful for therapeutic applications targeting cells expressing this receptor. Blocking IL-6R using humanized mAbs such as tocilizumab has been shown to be beneficial in pathologies like rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The identification of a new IL-6R ligand is therefore important for a complete understanding of the mechanism of action of this emerging class of immunosuppressors.

Overexpression of the polycomb group protein enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) occurs in diverse malignancies, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Based on its ability to modulate transcription of key genes implicated in cell cycle control, DNA repair, and cell differentiation, EZH2 is believed to play a crucial role in tissue-specific stem cell maintenance and tumor development. Here, we show that targeted pharmacologic disruption of EZH2 by the S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibitor 3-deazaneplanocin A (DZNep), or its specific downregulation by short hairpin RNA (shRNA), strongly impairs GBM cancer stem cell (CSC) self-renewal in vitro and tumor-initiating capacity in vivo. Using genome-wide expression analysis of DZNep-treated GBM CSCs, we found the expression of c-myc, recently reported to be essential for GBM CSCs, to be strongly repressed upon EZH2 depletion. Specific shRNA-mediated downregulation of EZH2 in combination with chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that c-myc is a direct target of EZH2 in GBM CSCs. Taken together, our observations provide evidence that direct transcriptional regulation of c-myc by EZH2 may constitute a novel mechanism underlying GBM CSC maintenance and suggest that EZH2 may be a valuable new therapeutic target for GBM management.

Since mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells was first derived in 1981, the ability of this unprecedented cell type to self-renew and differentiate without limit has revolutionized the discovery tools that are used to study gene functions and development. Furthermore, they have inspired others to hunt for similar cells from other species. The derivation of human ES cells in 1998 has accelerated these discoveries and has also widely provoked public interest, due to both the scientific significance of these cells for human tissue regeneration and the ethical disputes over the use of donated early human embryos. However, this is no longer a barrier, with the recent discovery of methods that can convert differentiated somatic cells into ES-like cells or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, by using defined reprogramming factors. This review attempts to summarize the progresses in the derivation of ES cells (as well as other embryo-derived pluripotent cells) and iPS cells from various species. We will focus on the molecular and biological features of the cells, as well as the different determinants identified thus far to sustain their pluripotency.