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Torres-Montaner A. The telomere complex and the origin of the cancer stem cell. Biomark Res 2021; 9:81. [PMID: 34736527 PMCID: PMC8567692 DOI: 10.1186/s40364-021-00339-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Exquisite regulation of telomere length is essential for the preservation of the lifetime function and self-renewal of stem cells. However, multiple oncogenic pathways converge on induction of telomere attrition or telomerase overexpression and these events can by themselves trigger malignant transformation. Activation of NFκB, the outcome of telomere complex damage, is present in leukemia stem cells but absent in normal stem cells and can activate DOT1L which has been linked to MLL-fusion leukemias. Tumors that arise from cells of early and late developmental stages appear to follow two different oncogenic routes in which the role of telomere and telomerase signaling might be differentially involved. In contrast, direct malignant transformation of stem cells appears to be extremely rare. This suggests an inherent resistance of stem cells to cancer transformation which could be linked to a stem cell’specific mechanism of telomere maintenance. However, tumor protection of normal stem cells could also be conferred by cell extrinsic mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Torres-Montaner
- Department of Pathology, Queen's Hospital, Rom Valley Way, London, Romford, RM7 OAG, UK. .,Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
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Yi S, Huang X, Zhou S, Zhou Y, Anderson MK, Zúñiga-Pflücker JC, Luan Q, Li Y. E2A regulates neural ectoderm fate specification in human embryonic stem cells. Development 2020; 147:dev.190298. [PMID: 33144398 DOI: 10.1242/dev.190298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
E protein transcription factors are crucial for many cell fate decisions. However, the roles of E proteins in the germ-layer specification of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are poorly understood. We disrupted the TCF3 gene locus to delete the E protein E2A in hESCs. E2A knockout (KO) hESCs retained key features of pluripotency, but displayed decreased neural ectoderm coupled with enhanced mesoendoderm outcomes. Genome-wide analyses showed that E2A directly regulates neural ectoderm and Nodal pathway genes. Accordingly, inhibition of Nodal or E2A overexpression partially rescued the neural ectoderm defect in E2A KO hESCs. Loss of E2A had little impact on the epigenetic landscape of hESCs, whereas E2A KO neural precursors displayed increased accessibility of the gene locus encoding the Nodal agonist CRIPTO. Double-deletion of both E2A and HEB (TCF12) resulted in a more severe neural ectoderm defect. Therefore, this study reveals critical context-dependent functions for E2A in human neural ectoderm fate specification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Yi
- Department of Periodontology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, National Engineering Laboratory for Digital and Material Technology of Stomatology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China.,Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Stem Cell Research Center, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Xiaotian Huang
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Stem Cell Research Center, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Shixin Zhou
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Stem Cell Research Center, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Yuan Zhou
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Michele K Anderson
- Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada
| | | | - Qingxian Luan
- Department of Periodontology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, National Engineering Laboratory for Digital and Material Technology of Stomatology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Yang Li
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Stem Cell Research Center, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
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