Copyright
©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Sep 26, 2019; 11(9): 693-704
Published online Sep 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i9.693
Published online Sep 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i9.693
Bioactive lipids in cancer stem cells
Romana-Rea Begicevic, Marco Falasca, Metabolic Signalling Group, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Frank Arfuso, Stem Cell and Cancer Biology Laboratory, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Author contributions: Begicevic RR and Falasca M conceived the study and drafted the manuscript; Arfuso F critically edited the manuscript; All authors approved the final version of the article.
Supported by Avner Pancreatic Cancer Foundation
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests relevant to this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marco Falasca, PhD, MSc, Metabolic Signalling Group, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6102, Australia. marco.falasca@curtin.edu.au
Telephone: +61-08-92669712
Received: April 9, 2019
Peer-review started: April 12, 2019
First decision: June 5, 2019
Revised: July 8, 2019
Accepted: August 20, 2019
Article in press: August 20, 2019
Published online: September 26, 2019
Peer-review started: April 12, 2019
First decision: June 5, 2019
Revised: July 8, 2019
Accepted: August 20, 2019
Article in press: August 20, 2019
Published online: September 26, 2019
Core Tip
Core tip: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a minute portion of highly aggressive cells that survive conventional and targeted therapies and ultimately re-populate the tumour. Recent studies have elucidated that stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A metabolic pathways involved in lipid metabolism are hyperactive in CSCs. However, the purpose of this enhanced activity is unclear. Here, we review the current literature and discuss the possible pathways and mechanisms that link the enhanced CSC lipid metabolism to bioactivity, specifically, with regard to structural lipids and active bio-molecules involved in cell signalling.