Hadjimichael C, Chanoumidou K, Papadopoulou N, Arampatzi P, Papamatheakis J, Kretsovali A. Common stemness regulators of embryonic and cancer stem cells. World J Stem Cells 2015; 7(9): 1150-1184 [PMID: 26516408 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i9.1150]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Androniki Kretsovali, PhD, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), 100, Plastira Str., 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece. kretsova@imbb.forth.gr
Research Domain of This Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which 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/
World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2015; 7(9): 1150-1184 Published online Oct 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i9.1150
Common stemness regulators of embryonic and cancer stem cells
Christiana Hadjimichael, Konstantina Chanoumidou, Natalia Papadopoulou, Panagiota Arampatzi, Joseph Papamatheakis, Androniki Kretsovali
Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Christiana Hadjimichael, Konstantina Chanoumidou, Natalia Papadopoulou, Panagiota Arampatzi, Joseph Papamatheakis, Androniki Kretsovali, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Konstantina Chanoumidou, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, Alexandroupolis, 68100 Evros, Greece
Author contributions: Hadjimichael C, Chanoumidou K, Papadopoulou N, Arampatzi P, Papamatheakis J and Kretsovali A wrote parts of the review.
Supported by ESPA “Umbistem” 11ΣΥΝ_10_668.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicting interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which 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/
Correspondence to: Androniki Kretsovali, PhD, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), 100, Plastira Str., 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece. kretsova@imbb.forth.gr
Telephone: +30-2810-391191 Fax: +30-2810-391101
Received: February 3, 2015 Peer-review started: February 5, 2015 First decision: April 15, 2015 Revised: August 25, 2015 Accepted: October 1, 2015 Article in press: October 8, 2015 Published online: October 26, 2015
Abstract
Pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells is regulated by a well characterized gene transcription circuitry. The circuitry is assembled by ESC specific transcription factors, signal transducing molecules and epigenetic regulators. Growing understanding of stem-like cells, albeit of more complex phenotypes, present in tumors (cancer stem cells), provides a common conceptual and research framework for basic and applied stem cell biology. In this review, we highlight current results on biomarkers, gene signatures, signaling pathways and epigenetic regulators that are common in embryonic and cancer stem cells. We discuss their role in determining the cell phenotype and finally, their potential use to design next generation biological and pharmaceutical approaches for regenerative medicine and cancer therapies.
Core tip: Accumulating experimental evidence has revealed the existence of common stemness regulators for embryonic and cancer stem cells. In this review, we highlight current results on biomarkers, gene signatures, signaling pathways and epigenetic regulators that determine the phenotype of these two types of stem cells. We also discuss how this knowledge may promote the design of next generation biological and pharmaceutical tools for regenerative medicine and cancer therapies.
