Exploring the Structural and Functional Diversity among FGF Signals: A Comparative Study of Human, Mouse, and Xenopus FGF Ligands in Embryonic Development and Cancer Pathogenesis

Fibroblast growth factor 21

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) belongs to the FGF19 subfamily and acts systemically, playing a key role in inter-organ crosstalk. Ranging from metabolism, reproduction, and immunity, FGF21 is a pleiotropic hormone which contributes to various physiological processes. Although most of its production across species stems from hepatic tissues, expression of FGF21 in mice has also been identified in adipose tissue, thymus, heart, pancreas, and skeletal muscle. Elevated FGF21 levels are affiliated with various diseases and conditions, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, preeclampsia, as well as cancer. Murine knockout models are viable and show modest weight gain, while overexpression and gain-of-function models display resistance to weight gain, altered bone volume, and enhanced immunity. In addition, FGF21-based therapies are at the forefront of biopharmaceutical strategies aimed at treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

KR158 Spheres Harboring Slow-Cycling Cells Recapitulate High-Grade Glioma Features in an Immunocompetent System

Glioblastoma (GBM) poses a significant challenge in clinical oncology due to its aggressive nature, heterogeneity, and resistance to therapies. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a critical role in GBM, particularly in treatment resistance and tumor relapse, emphasizing the need to comprehend the mechanisms regulating these cells. Also, their multifaceted contributions to the tumor microenvironment (TME) underline their significance, driven by their unique properties. This study aimed to characterize glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), specifically slow-cycling cells (SCCs), in an immunocompetent murine GBM model to explore their similarities with their human counterparts. Using the KR158 mouse model, we confirmed that SCCs isolated from this model exhibited key traits and functional properties akin to human SCCs. KR158 murine SCCs, expanded in the gliomasphere assay, demonstrated sphere forming ability, self-renewing capacity, positive tumorigenicity, enhanced stemness and resistance to chemotherapy. Together, our findings validate the KR158 murine model as a framework to investigate GSCs and SCCs in GBM pathology, and explore specifically the SCC-immune system communications, understand their role in disease progression, and evaluate the effect of therapeutic strategies targeting these specific connections.

Spemann-Mangold organizer and mesoderm induction

The discovery of the Spemann-Mangold organizer strongly influenced subsequent research on embryonic induction, with research aiming to elucidate the molecular characteristics of organizer activity being currently underway. Herein, we review the history of research on embryonic induction, and describe how the mechanisms of induction phenomena and developmental processes have been investigated. Classical experiments investigating the differentiation capacity and inductive activity of various embryonic regions were conducted by many researchers, and important theories of region-specific induction and the concept for chain of induction were proposed. The transition from experimental embryology to developmental biology has enabled us to understand the mechanisms of embryonic induction at the molecular level. Consequently, many inducing substances and molecules such as transcriptional factors and peptide growth factors involved in the organizer formation were identified. One of peptide growth factors, activin, acts as a mesoderm- and endoderm-inducing substance. Activin induces several tissues and organs from the undifferentiated cell mass of amphibian embryos in a concentration-dependent manner. We review the extent to which we can control in vitro organogenesis from undifferentiated cells, and discuss the application to stem cell-based regenerative medicine based on insights gained from animal experiments, such as in amphibians.

KR158 spheres harboring slow-cycling cells recapitulate GBM features in an immunocompetent system

Glioblastoma (GBM) poses a significant challenge in clinical oncology due to its aggressive nature, heterogeneity, and resistance to therapies. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a critical role in GBM, particularly in treatment-resistance and tumor relapse, emphasizing the need to comprehend the mechanisms regulating these cells. Also, their multifaceted contributions to the tumor-microenvironment (TME) underline their significance, driven by their unique properties. This study aimed to characterize glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), specifically slow-cycling cells (SCCs), in an immunocompetent murine GBM model to explore their similarities with their human counterparts. Using the KR158 mouse model, we confirmed that SCCs isolated from this model exhibited key traits and functional properties akin to human SCCs. KR158 murine SCCs, expanded in the gliomasphere assay, demonstrated sphere forming ability, self-renewing capacity, positive tumorigenicity, enhanced stemness and resistance to chemotherapy. Together, our findings validate the KR158 murine model as a framework to investigate GSCs and SCCs in GBM-pathology, and explore specifically the SCC-immune system communications, understand their role in disease progression, and evaluate the effect of therapeutic strategies targeting these specific connections.