GCSF-R expression in myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative disorders and blast dysmaturation in CML

Gene Expression of CSF3R/CD114 Is Associated with Poorer Patient Survival in Glioma

Gliomas comprise most cases of central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Gliomas afflict both adults and children, and glioblastoma (GBM) in adults represents the clinically most important type of malignant brain cancer, with a very poor prognosis. The cell surface glycoprotein CD114, which is encoded by the CSF3R gene, acts as the receptor for the granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), and is thus also called GCSFR or CSFR. CD114 is a marker of cancer stem cells (CSCs), and its expression has been reported in several cancer types. In addition, CD114 may represent one among various cases where brain tumors hijack molecular mechanisms involved in neuronal survival and synaptic plasticity. Here, we describe CSF3R mRNA expression in human gliomas and their association with patient prognosis as assessed by overall survival (OS). We found that the levels of CSF3R/CD114 transcripts are higher in a few different types of gliomas, namely astrocytoma, pilocytic astrocytoma, and GBM, in comparison to non-tumoral neural tissue. We also observed that higher expression of CSF3R/CD114 in gliomas is associated with poorer outcome as measured by a shorter OS. Our findings provide early evidence suggesting that CSF3R/CD114 shows a potential role as a prognosis marker of OS in patients with GBM.

The role of the atypical chemokine receptor CCRL2 in myelodysplastic syndrome and secondary acute myeloid leukemia

The identification of new pathways supporting the myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) primitive cells growth is required to develop targeted therapies. Within myeloid malignancies, men have worse outcomes than women, suggesting male sex hormone-driven effects in malignant hematopoiesis. Androgen receptor promotes the expression of five granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor-regulated genes. Among them, CCRL2 encodes an atypical chemokine receptor regulating cytokine signaling in granulocytes, but its role in myeloid malignancies is unknown. Our study revealed that CCRL2 is up-regulated in primitive cells from patients with MDS and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML). CCRL2 knockdown suppressed MDS92 and MDS-L cell growth and clonogenicity in vitro and in vivo and decreased JAK2/STAT3/STAT5 phosphorylation. CCRL2 coprecipitated with JAK2 and potentiated JAK2-STAT interaction. Erythroleukemia cells expressing JAK2V617F showed less effect of CCRL2 knockdown, whereas fedratinib potentiated the CCRL2 knockdown effect. Conclusively, our results implicate CCRL2 as an MDS/sAML cell growth mediator, partially through JAK2/STAT signaling.

CD114: A New Member of the Neural Crest-Derived Cancer Stem Cell Marker Family

The neural crest is a population of cells in the vertebrate embryo that gives rise to a wide range of tissues and cell types, including components of the peripheral nervous system and the craniofacial skeleton as well as melanocytes and the adrenal medulla. Aberrations in neural crest development can lead to numerous diseases, including cancers such as melanoma and neuroblastoma. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in these neural crest-derived tumors, and these CSCs demonstrate resistance to treatment and are likely key contributors to disease relapse. Patients with neural crest-derived tumors often have poor outcomes due to frequent relapses, likely due to the continued presence of residual treatment-resistant CSCs, and therapies directed against these CSCs are likely to improve patient outcomes. CSCs share many of the same genetic and biologic features of primordial neural crest cells, and therefore a better understanding of neural crest development will likely lead to the development of effective therapies directed against these CSCs. Signaling through STAT3 has been shown to be required for neural crest development, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF)-mediated activation of STAT3 has been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of neural crest-derived tumors. Expression of the cell surface marker CD114 (the receptor for GCSF) has been identified as a potential marker for CSCs in neural crest-derived tumors, suggesting that CD114 expression and function may contribute to disease relapse and poor patient outcomes. Here we review the processes of neural crest development and tumorigenesis and we discuss the previously identified markers for CSC subpopulations identified in neural crest tumors and their role in neural crest tumor biology. We also discuss the potential for CD114 and downstream intracellular signaling pathways as potential targets for CSC-directed therapy. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 221-231, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cancer stem cells in basic science and in translational oncology: can we translate into clinical application?

Since their description and identification in leukemias and solid tumors, cancer stem cells (CSC) have been the subject of intensive research in translational oncology. Indeed, recent advances have led to the identification of CSC markers, CSC targets, and the preclinical and clinical evaluation of the CSC-eradicating (curative) potential of various drugs. However, although diverse CSC markers and targets have been identified, several questions remain, such as the origin and evolution of CSC, mechanisms underlying resistance of CSC against various targeted drugs, and the biochemical basis and function of stroma cell-CSC interactions in the so-called ‘stem cell niche.’ Additional aspects that have to be taken into account when considering CSC elimination as primary treatment-goal are the genomic plasticity and extensive subclone formation of CSC. Notably, various cell fractions with different combinations of molecular aberrations and varying proliferative potential may display CSC function in a given neoplasm, and the related molecular complexity of the genome in CSC subsets is considered to contribute essentially to disease evolution and acquired drug resistance. In the current article, we discuss new developments in the field of CSC research and whether these new concepts can be exploited in clinical practice in the future.