Cancer Stem Cell News Volume 9.21 | Jun 3 2020

TOP STORY

The Rational Development of CD133-Targeting Immunotherapies for Glioblastoma

Investigators report three immunotherapeutic modalities based on a human anti-CD133 antibody fragment that targeted a unique epitope present in glycosylated and non-glycosylated CD133 and studied their effects on targeting CD133⁺ cells in patient-derived models of glioblastoma. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

ISG15 and ISGylation Is Required for Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Mitophagy and Metabolic Plasticity

Scientists demonstrated that pancreatic cancer stem cells increased expression of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) and protein ISGylation, which were essential for maintaining their metabolic plasticity. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Deregulated Expression of the Imprinted DLK1-DIO3 Region in Glioblastoma Stem-Like Cells: Tumor Suppressor Role of lncRNA MEG3

Researchers aimed at elucidating the involvement of deregulations within the imprinted DLK-DIO3 region on chromosome 14q32 in glioblastoma pathogenesis. [Neuro Oncol] Full Article

Dilp-2–Mediated PI3-Kinase Activation Coordinates Reactivation of Quiescent Neuroblasts with Growth of Their Glial Stem Cell Niche

Scientists report that Drosophila neural stem cells, known as neuroblasts, reactivated from developmental quiescence in a dietary-nutrient–dependent manner. Neuroblast reactivation in the brain required nonautonomous activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) signaling from cortex glia and tracheal processes, both of which were closely associated with neuroblasts. [PLoS Biol] Full Article

Acute Myeloid Leukemia iPSCs Reveal a Role for RUNX1 in the Maintenance of Human Leukemia Stem Cells

Through fate-tracking experiments, xenotransplantation, and single-cell transcriptomics, investigators identified a cell fraction that could be isolated prospectively by means of adherent in vitro growth that resided on the apex of this hierarchy and fulfilled the hallmark features of leukemia stem cells. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Targeting STAT3 Signaling Using Stabilized Sulforaphane (SFX-01) Inhibits Endocrine Resistant Stem-Like Cells in ER-Positive Breast Cancer

Researchers investigated SFX-01, a stabilized formulation of sulforaphane, for its effects on breast CSC activity in estrogen receptor positive preclinical models. [Oncogene] Full Article

Characterization of a New Small-Molecule Inhibitor of HDAC6 in Glioblastoma

The authors showed that HDAC6 was elevated in glioblastoma, the most malignant and common brain tumor in adults, in which its high levels correlated with poor patient survival and was more abundant in the glioma stem cell subpopulation. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

CAMK2A Supported Tumor Initiating Cells of Lung Adenocarcinoma by Upregulating SOX2 through EZH2 Phosphorylation

In human lung adenocarcinomas, calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II alpha (CAMK2A) was aberrantly activated in a proportion of cases and was an independent risk factor predicting shorter survivals. Functionally, CAMK2A enhanced tumor initiating cell phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Characterization of a Subpopulation of CD133⁺ Cancer Stem Cells from Chinese Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The authors identified and isolated cancer stem cells from populations of primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells, which were obtained from OSCC specimens and identified by cell morphology and immunohistochemical staining for keratin. [Sci Rep] Full Article

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Targeting Cancer Stem Cells in Cholangiocarcinoma

In this review, recent findings in terms of cancer stem cell research in cholangiocarcinoma are reviewed, where the potential therapeutic targeting of cancer stem cells in this disease are discussed. [Int J Oncol] Abstract | Download Full Article

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the cancer stem cell research field.

First Patient Treated in Phase I Clinical Trial of Incysus Therapeutics Gamma Delta (γδ) T Cell Immunotherapy for Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma

Incysus Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the first patient in a Phase I clinical study titled, “Novel Gamma-Delta (γδ) T Cell Therapy for Treatment of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma” has been treated at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. [Incysus Therapeutics, Inc. (GlobeNewswire, Inc.)] Press Release

BeiGene Announces the Approval of BRUKINSA™ (Zanubrutinib) in China for Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma and Relapsed/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma

BeiGene, Ltd. announced that its BTK inhibitor BRUKINSA™ has received approval from the China National Medical Products Administration in two indications – the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy, and the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy. [BeiGene, Ltd.] Press Release

Europe Bets R&D Spending Will Bring Jobs to Battered Economy

The European Union wants a massive dose of research spending to lift it out of what could be the worst recession in its history. Last week, as part of a €1.85 trillion budget and pandemic recovery proposal, the European Commission, the EU executive arm, unveiled plans to pump €94.4 billion into research over seven years, nearly €11 billion more than originally planned for the program, called Horizon Europe. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

The Pandemic Is Challenging China’s Breakneck Race to the Top of Science

When COVID-19 hit, China was close to surpassing the United States as the leading science funder, two years after it took top place as the biggest producer of scientific articles. And the country has boosted science around the world by supplying other regions with graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, who now number in the hundreds of thousands a year. [Nature News] Editorial

Will the Pandemic Permanently Alter Scientific Publishing?

The COVID-19 crisis has underlined just how fast and open science publishing can be — when scientists want it that way. Researchers working on the pandemic are sharing preliminary results on preprint servers and institutional websites at unprecedented rates, embracing the kind of early, public sharing that physicists and mathematicians have practised for decades. [Nature News] Editorial

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NEW Faculty and Postdoctoral Positions – Stem Cells and Cancer (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

NEW PhD Student Position – Leukemic Stem Cell Immune Targeting (Karolinska Institutet)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics (City of Hope)

Postdoctoral Position – Epigenetic Control of Cancer Stem Cell Biology (University of Freiburg)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Hematopoiesis, Leukemia, and Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes (The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology of Stem Cell and Cancer Epigenetics (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell and Leukemia Metabolism (Children’s Medical Center Research Institute)

Assistant Professor – Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology (Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Leukemia Stem Cell Research (Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute)

Scientist – Stem Cells and Cellular Biology (Athersys, Inc.)

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