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Cancers
Special Issues
Brain Cancer Stem Cells in Children and Adults
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Brain Cancer Stem Cells in Children and Adults

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Cancer Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2024) | Viewed by 3049

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jia Shen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Medical Sciences Program, Indiana University School of Medicine, Bloomington, IN 47401, USA
Interests: cancer stem cells; cancer immunology; epigenetics; ubiquitination

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Brain tumors can occur at any age and represent some of the most malignant cancers in both children and adults. Current standard therapies target the majority of brain tumor cells but do not adequately eradicate the cancer stem cell populations. Cancer stem cells are defined as tumor-initiating cells that possess self-renewal and differentiation properties similar to normal stem cells, with additional features of being highly tumorigenic and giving rise to a heterogeneous population of cells that comprise the tumor mass. Unless these brain cancer stem cells are eliminated, the possibility of a cancer cure is unlikely.

In this Special Issue of Cancers, our objective is to gather a collection of reviews and original research articles that cover the basic, translational, and/or clinical research topics which contribute to our understanding of the brain cancer stem cell biology and development of new therapeutic strategies on targeting cancer stem cells in pediatric and adult brain tumors.

Dr. Jia Shen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short 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 thoroughly refereed through a single-blind 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 semimonthly 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 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • brain cancer stem cell characterization
  • signaling pathways
  • tumor microenvironment
  • therapy resistance
  • novel therapeutics
  • clinical relevance

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 10326 KiB  
Article
CELF2 Sustains a Proliferating/OLIG2+ Glioblastoma Cell Phenotype via the Epigenetic Repression of SOX3
by Laurent Turchi, Nathalie Sakakini, Gaelle Saviane, Béatrice Polo, Mirca Saras Saurty-Seerunghen, Mathieu Gabut, Corine Auge Gouillou, Vincent Guerlais, Claude Pasquier, Marie Luce Vignais, Fabien Almairac, Hervé Chneiweiss, Marie-Pierre Junier, Fanny Burel-Vandenbos and Thierry Virolle
Cancers 2023, 15(20), 5038; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15205038 - 18 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1256
Abstract
Glioblastomas (GBs) are incurable brain tumors. The persistence of aggressive stem-like tumor cells after cytotoxic treatments compromises therapeutic efficacy, leading to GBM recurrence. Forcing the GBM cells to irreversibly abandon their aggressive stem-like phenotype may offer an alternative to conventional cytotoxic treatments. Here, [...] Read more.
Glioblastomas (GBs) are incurable brain tumors. The persistence of aggressive stem-like tumor cells after cytotoxic treatments compromises therapeutic efficacy, leading to GBM recurrence. Forcing the GBM cells to irreversibly abandon their aggressive stem-like phenotype may offer an alternative to conventional cytotoxic treatments. Here, we show that the RNA binding protein CELF2 is strongly expressed in mitotic and OLIG2-positive GBM cells, while it is downregulated in differentiated and non-mitotic cells by miR-199a-3p, exemplifying GBM intra-tumor heterogeneity. Using patient-derived cells and human GBM samples, we demonstrate that CELF2 plays a key role in maintaining the proliferative/OLIG2 cell phenotype with clonal and tumorigenic properties. Indeed, we show that CELF2 deficiency in patient-derived GSCs drastically reduced tumor growth in the brains of nude mice. We further show that CELF2 promotes TRIM28 and G9a expression, which drive a H3K9me3 epigenetic profile responsible for the silencing of the SOX3 gene. Thus, CELF2, which is positively correlated with OLIG2 and Ki67 expression in human GBM samples, is inversely correlated with SOX3 and miR-199a-3p. Accordingly, the invalidation of SOX3 in CELF2-deficient patient-derived cells rescued proliferation and OLIG2 expression. Finally, patients expressing SOX3 above the median level of expression tend to have a longer life expectancy. CELF2 is therefore a crucial target for the malignant potential of GBM and warrants attention when developing novel anticancer strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Cancer Stem Cells in Children and Adults)
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Review

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12 pages, 1159 KiB  
Review
Unlocking Glioblastoma Secrets: Natural Killer Cell Therapy against Cancer Stem Cells
by Yuanning Du, Karen E. Pollok and Jia Shen
Cancers 2023, 15(24), 5836; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15245836 - 14 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1324
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) represents a paramount challenge as the most formidable primary brain tumor characterized by its rapid growth, aggressive invasiveness, and remarkable heterogeneity, collectively impeding effective therapeutic interventions. The cancer stem cells within GBM, GBM stem cells (GSCs), hold pivotal significance in fueling [...] Read more.
Glioblastoma (GBM) represents a paramount challenge as the most formidable primary brain tumor characterized by its rapid growth, aggressive invasiveness, and remarkable heterogeneity, collectively impeding effective therapeutic interventions. The cancer stem cells within GBM, GBM stem cells (GSCs), hold pivotal significance in fueling tumor advancement, therapeutic refractoriness, and relapse. Given their unique attributes encompassing self-renewal, multipotent differentiation potential, and intricate interplay with the tumor microenvironment, targeting GSCs emerges as a critical strategy for innovative GBM treatments. Natural killer (NK) cells, innate immune effectors recognized for their capacity to selectively detect and eliminate malignancies without the need for prior sensitization, offer substantial therapeutic potential. Harnessing the inherent capabilities of NK cells can not only directly engage tumor cells but also augment broader immune responses. Encouraging outcomes from clinical investigations underscore NK cells as a potentially effective modality for cancer therapy. Consequently, NK cell-based approaches hold promise for effectively targeting GSCs, thereby presenting an avenue to enhance treatment outcomes for GBM patients. This review outlines GBM’s intricate landscape, therapeutic challenges, GSC-related dynamics, and elucidates the potential of NK cell as an immunotherapeutic strategy directed towards GSCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Cancer Stem Cells in Children and Adults)
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