Special Issue "Cancer Stem Cells"
QuicklinksA special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2010)
Special Issue Editors
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Albert D. Donnenberg
1 Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Director, UPCI Cytometry Laboratory, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA
2 Laboratory Director, UPMC Hematopoietic Stem Cell Laboratory, 5117 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
3 Deputy Director, UPCI Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program, Hillman Cancer Center, 5117 Centre Ave., Suite 4.24c, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Website: http://www.idm.pitt.edu/directory/bios/donnenberg.asp
E-Mail:
Phone: +1 412 6233256
Fax: +1 412 6237778
Interests: functional significance of T-cell activation markers; T-cell turnover in SIV infection; role of p-gp in resistance to immunosuppressive agents; immunologic consequences of autologous transplantation in systemic sclerosis; cancer stem cell
Guest Editor
Dr. Vera Svobodova Donnenberg
Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
E-Mail:
Interests: P-glycoprotein/ABC-transporters and drug interaction in T lymphocytes and beyond; tumorigenic stem cells; interaction of dormant tumor cells and regenerating tissue; MDR modulation and control by SHH pathway; lung immunology; strengths
Published Papers
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cancer treatment often must deal with the problem of recurrence. This leads to a question: are there specialized cells within a tumor that are relatively resistant to typical therapeutics and which possess the ability to reconstitute the malignancy? Put another way, do tumors contain “stem-like” cells with the properties of resistance and tumor reconstitution? Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been defined as “cells within a tumor that possess the capacity to self-renew and to cause heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells that comprise the tumor” (see: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/2006report/2006chapter9.htm). Putative CSCs have been identified for a variety of cancer types, and there are several theories to explain how CSCs develop and how they contribute to disease progression, including metastasis. This topic has profound implications for both the basic science of cancer biology, as well as for more applied studies of clinical and therapeutic relevance. Continued investigation of CSC biology will broaden our understanding of tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis, likely leading to novel preventive and therapeutic approaches against cancer. Therefore, we invite research and review papers in the broad field of cancer stem cells, including, but not limited to, topics relating CSCs to: cancer genetics, tumor biology, metastasis, cell signaling, diet and prevention, and pharmacological and genetic therapeutics. We look forward to your contributions.
Dr. Michael Bordonaro
Dr. Frank Pajonk
Guest Editors
Related Special Issue
Natural and Induced Pluripotency in Stem Cells in Genes
Submission
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 500 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.
Planned Papers
Type of Paper: Review
Title: In Search of the Holy Grail: Engineering the Stem Cell Niche
Authors: Janet L. Paluh and Douglas B. Chrisey
Affiliation: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,Troy, NY, USA; E-Mail: chrisd@rpi.edu (D.B.C.)
Abstract: No other biomedical frontier offers the stunning potential of human pluripotent stem cells and their progenitors in therapeutic applications to ease human suffering and develop in vitro models of human disease. Such treatments and analyses, however, depend to a large part on our ability to expand stem cells in culture and direct lineage progression. It is now evident that traditional tissue culturing methodologies on two dimensional hard plastics and in standard CO2 and oxygen conditions are non-optimal for maintaining pluripotent potential or inducing directed differentiation. Nor are these approaches suitable for temporal multi-dimensional engineering of cells in tissues or organs for transplant. Naivety in regard to the stem cell niche and lack of accompanying support cells has resulted in ineffective treatment responses with stem cells in animal models that are instead shocked into an inappropriate environment for survival or differentiation. Novel uses of hypoxic conditions, three-dimensional varied tension hydrogels, and laser-assisted technologies for assembling building blocks of niches are now at the forefront of investigation. Our perception of stem cells as disease components, has evolved with increasing evidence for cancer stem cells. Whether cancer stem cells represent a ubiquitous and central mechanism for all cancers is still under investigation. However, it is clear that pluripotent stem cells and embryonal carcinoma cells share similar transcriptional profiles, highlighting similarities in environmental response potential. Ultimately, global solutions for stem cell research also necessitate a more comprehensive profile of cellular determinants that define subtle differences in progenitor cell identity. We discuss here how current prominent technologies are being applied to study the stem cell niche in vitro and the potential for a rational understanding of the niche to human development and disease.
Type of Paper: Review
Title: Cancer Stem Cells and Immunoediting.
Author: Gianluca Civenni
Affiliation: Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland,
E-Mail: gianluca.civenni@anatom.unizh.ch
Abstract: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a subpopulation of tumor cells that are thought to initiate and sustain tumor formation. It is currently unknown which mechanisms cause CSC to initiate tumors. Several findings suggest a negative correlation between degrees of host immunocompetence and rates of cancer development. In human, immunodeficiency can predispose to the development of cancer, and established tumors often generate immunosuppressive microenvironments that can block productive antitumor immunity. The immune system cannot only prevent tumor growth and progression through the detection and elimination of malignant cells but also shaping neoplastic disease, this process is known as immunoediting. Based on these observations it is conceivable that only a small subpopulation of malignant cells, namely CSC, may have the characteristics to elude host antitumor immunity and to initiate tumor formation. Through a better understanding of the complex relationship between tumors and the immune system, tumor immunology attempts to control the immune system to generate defensive antitumor reactions in patients.
Type of Paper: Review
Title: The Emerging Role of MicroRNAs in the Regulation of Cancer Stem Cells
Authors: Aisha Sethi and Lynette M. Sholl
Affiliation: Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;
E-Mail: lmsholl@partners.org (L.M.S.)
Abstract: Cancer stem cells are defined as a subpopulation of cells within a tumor that are capable of self-renewal and differentiation into the heterogeneous cell lineages that comprise the tumor. Many studies indicate that cancer stem cells may be responsible for treatment failure and relapse in cancer patients. The factors that regulate cancer stem cells are not well defined. Micro-RNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate translational repression and transcript degradation. It is clear that miRNAs play a critical role in embryonic and inducible pluripotent stem cell regulation and emerging evidence supports their role in cancer stem cell evolution. To date, miRNAs have been shown to play a role, either as tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes, in driving critical gene expression pathways in cancer stem cells in a wide range of human malignancies, including hematopoietic and epithelial tumors and sarcomas. MiRNAs involved in cancer stem cell regulation provide attractive, novel therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. This review attempts to summarize progress to date in defining the role of micro-RNAs in cancer stem cells.
Last update: 16 May 2011