Objective To summarize research status and mechanism about effects of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) on breast cancer stem cells. Method Relevant literatures about the relationship between the CAFs and breast cancer stem cells were collected and reviewed. Results CAFs were the majority type of the breast cancer stromal cells. The cancer stromal cell was also the important part of the tumor microenvironment, which could promote the proliferation, adhesion, invasion, and metastasis of the breast cancer. A subpopulation of cancer stem cells with the potentials of self-renewal and multi-directional differentiation in the breast cancer tissues might cause the tumor development. There was a phenotypic heterogeneity in the beast cancer stem cells, it was related to the tumor recurrence and therapy resistance. The CAFs could promote the formation of breast cancer stem cells through the epithelial mesenchymal transition and promote the transformation of tumor stem cell phenotype. More research needed to be done to prove these processes. Conclusion CAFs play an important role in formation of breast cancer stem cells and transformation of tumor stem cell phenotype, which might provide a new idea about treating breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo determine the expressions of Lgr5 protein and Ki-67 protein in gastric cancer tissues, and to analyze the possible function in the carcinogenesis and development of gastric cancer.MethodsThe SABC immunohistochemical method was adopted to examine the expressions of Lgr5 protein and Ki-67 protein in the 69 paraffin slices of gastric cancer from the patients, with the adjacent normal gastric tissue as the control group. The statistical relationship between the expressions of these two kinds of proteins and clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer was examined respectively.ResultsIn the gastric cancer tissue group, the expressions of Lgr5 protein and Ki-67 protein upregulated in comparison to the adjacent normal gastric tissue group [Lgr5 protein: 87.0% (60/69) versus 16.7% (5/30), χ2=45.81, P<0.001; Ki-67 protein: 79.7% (55/69) versus 36.7% (11/30), χ2=17.43, P<0.001]. The expressions of Lgr5 protein and Ki-67 protein all upregulated in the N1–N3 stage groups, lowly differentiated+undifferentiated groups and positive Helicobacter pylori (HP) groups. The expression of Lgr5 protein upregulated in the T3+T4 stage groups in comparison to T1+T2 stage groups, while, no significant relationship was found in the expression of Ki-67 protein and tumor T staging. No significant relationship was found between the gender or metastasis and the expression of these two proteins. There was a positive correlation between the Lgr5 protein expression and the Ki-67 protein expression in the gastric cancer (rs=0.340, P=0.004).ConclusionsIn the development progress of gastric cancer, the Lgr5 protein might get involved in the mechanism of tumor invasion, lymph nodal metastasis, and low differentiation. Ki-67 protein might get involved in the mechanism of lymph nodal metastasis and low differentiation. The two proteins, together with the HP infection, might play a synergistic role in tumorigenesis and development.
Objective To analyze the advances of cancer stem cell (CSC) in recent years, and to propose a prospect for CSC research and cancer therapy. Methods Articles about important advances of CSC theory and cancer therapy were reviewed, and then selected and summarized. Results In 2001, CSC was first put forward as a concept, till now, which has been confirmed in many tissues. In recent years, efforts were dedicated to such topics including: identification of CSC in sol id tumors, the origin of CSC, its niche and growth mechanism, cancer therapy, etc. According to the CSC theory, traditional therapeutic methods have deficiencies, and new treatment targeting CSC may thoroughly el iminate tumors. Conclusion At present, CSC theory is still controversial, while it proposed revolutionary methods and directions for the therapy of cancer.
Objective To summarize the stemness regulation mechanism of microRNA on invasion, metastasis and chemoresistance of gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs), and to explore the anti-tumor therapy based on miRNA targeting GCSCs. Method The literatures about the research progress of miRNA and GCSCs at home and abroad in recent years were collected and reviewed. Results MiRNA could regulate a series of important cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of GCSCs by participating in the expression of related target genes, which was associated with poor prognosis and high mortality of gastric cancer patients. Silencing or restoring the expression of candidate miRNA of GCSCs could provide a novel and promising approach for the treatment of gastric cancer. Conclusions GCSCs have an important relationship with the malignant biological behavior of gastric cancer, and studies have confirmed that miRNA play an important regulatory role in GCSCs. Therefore, miRNA can be used as a potential target for the treatment of gastric cancer. By regulating the expression of specific miRNA, it can inhibit tumor invasion and metastasis, and improve the sensitivity of chemotherapy drugs.
ObjectiveTo detect expressions of Lgr5 and E-cadherin (E-cad) proteins in gastric cancer tissues and analyze their relationships with the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.MethodsThe expressions of Lgr5 and E-cad proteins in the 69 patients with gastric cancer and adjacent normal gastric mucosa tissues were measured by the immunohistochemical SABC method, and the relationships between the Lgr5 or E-cad protein expression in the gastric cancer tissues and the clinicopathologic characteristics and the survival of patients with gastric cancer were analyzed.ResultsThe expressions of Lgr5 and E-cad proteins were positive in 60 cases (87.0%) and 30 cases (43.5%) of gastric cancer tissues, respectively, and in 5 cases (16.7%) and 30 cases (100%) of adjacent normal gastric mucosa tissues. There was a significant difference in the positive rate of Lgr5 or E-cad protein expression in the different tissues, respectively (Lgr5 protein: χ2=45.814, P<0.001; E-cad protein: χ2=11.249, P=0.001). The positive rates of Lgr5 and E-cad protein expressions in the gastric cancer were related to the degree of differentiation and the depth of invasion. Meanwhile the positive rate of Lgr5 protein expression in the gastric cancer tissue was also related to the lymph node metastasis and Helicobacter pylori infection, while the positive rate of E-cad protein expression was not related to these (P>0.05). The 5-year total survival time had no significant difference in the patients between with positive and with negative expressions of Lgr5 protein (χ2=1.819, P=0.117), which had a significant difference in the patients between with positive and with negative expressions of E-cad protein (χ2=5.814, P=0.016). The positive expression of Lgr5 was negatively correlated with that of E-cad (rs=−0.355, P=0.003).ConclusionsLgr5 protein may get involved in the mechanism of tumor invasion, lymph nodal metastasis, and low differentiation, while no relationship between the Lgr5 protein and prognosis has been confirmed. E-cad protein may get involved in the mechanism of tumor invasion and affect the prognosis of patients.
Objective To isolate and purify the melanoma stem cells (MSC) in choroidal melanoma OCM-1 cells. Methods OCM-1 cells were resuscitated, and after cultured in standard Dubecco's modifided Eagle's medium (DMEM)/F12, they were cultured in serum-free medium (SFM). The cultured MSC were isolated and purified, and the positive rate of CD133, the specific markers of neurostem cells, was observed by flow cytometry (FCM). The 6th generation of the cells were stained by musashi-1 immunocytochemistry, and the rate of the positive cells was observed under the microscope. Results After the Adherent OCM-1 cells cultured in SFM, the number of the adherent number decreased obviously. The cells at the 6th generation grew as the suspended gobbets, which represented the typical grow manner of the stem cells. Positive CD133 could be found in the cells of different generations, which was 2.5％, 21.7％, and 57.8％ in the non-isolated OCM-1 cells, the 1st generation of isolated cells, and the 2nd generation cells, respectively. The positive rate of CD133 in the cells at the sixth generation was 79.8% with b positive expression of musashi-1. Conclusion MSC is in the human choroidal melanoma OCM-1 cells. The suspended stem cells may be purified by limited differentiation and serial passage in SFM. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2007, 23: 87-90)
ObjectiveTo investigate the expression and clinical significance of octamer-binding transcription factor 4(Oct-4) in gastric cancer (GC) tissues with meta-analysis. MethodsPubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, CBM, VIP, CNKI, and WanFang Database were searched from their establishment to Oct.2012 for related studies, to investigate the relationship between expression of Oct-4 and the clinicopathological characteristics of GC.After evaluating methodo-logical quality of studies that met the inclusion criteria, RevMan 5.1 software was used to data analysis. ResultsEight studies which enrolled 623 cases of GC were identified.The results of the meta-analysis showed that, as for the positive expression rate of Oct-4, there were significant differences between GC tissues and normal stomach tissues (OR=37.50, 95% CI: 4.76-295.51, P < 0.01), as well as the cell differentiation (OR=0.27, 95% CI: 0.16-0.45, P < 0.01), for that the positive expression rate of Oct-4 in low differentiation of gastric cancer tissues was higher than those of moderate-high differentation group.But there were no significant differences between GC tissues with lymph node metastasis and non-lymph node metastasis (OR=2.09, 95% CI: 0.63-6.94, P=0.23), as well as Ⅰ-Ⅱ stage and Ⅲ-Ⅳ stage (OR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.25-1.54, P=0.30) of GC tissues. ConclusionsOct-4 may participate in the whole course of carcinogenesis of GC, but the relationship between expression of Oct-4 and lymph node metastasis as well as the TNM stage of GC is unclear, which needs more high quality studies to explore the question clearly.