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Progenitor/stem cells give rise to liver cancer due to aberrant TGF-beta and IL-6 signaling.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are critical for the initiation, propagation, and treatment resistance of multiple cancers. Yet functional interactions between specific signaling pathways in solid organ "cancer stem cells," such as those of the liver, remain elusive. We report that in regenerating human liver, two to four cells per 30,000-50,000 cells express stem cell proteins Stat3, Oct4, and Nanog, along with the prodifferentiation proteins TGF-beta-receptor type II (TBRII) and embryonic liver fodrin (ELF). Examination of human hepatocellular cancer (HCC) reveals cells that label with stem cell markers that have unexpectedly lost TBRII and ELF. elf(+/-) mice spontaneously develop HCC; expression analysis of these tumors highlighted the marked activation of the genes involved in the IL-6 signaling pathway, including IL-6 and Stat3, suggesting that HCC could arise from an IL-6-driven transformed stem cell with inactivated TGF-beta signaling. Similarly, suppression of IL-6 signaling, through the generation of mouse knockouts involving a positive regulator of IL-6, Inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor-heavy chain-4 (ITIH4), resulted in reduction in HCC in elf(+/-) mice. This study reveals an unexpected functional link between IL-6, a major stem cell signaling pathway, and the TGF-beta signaling pathway in the modulation of mammalian HCC, a lethal cancer of the foregut. These experiments suggest an important therapeutic role for targeting IL-6 in HCCs lacking a functional TGF-beta pathway.

SUBMITTER: Tang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2268156 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Progenitor/stem cells give rise to liver cancer due to aberrant TGF-beta and IL-6 signaling.

Tang Yi Y Kitisin Krit K Jogunoori Wilma W Li Cuiling C Deng Chu-Xia CX Mueller Susette C SC Ressom Habtom W HW Rashid Asif A He Aiwu Ruth AR Mendelson Jonathan S JS Jessup John M JM Shetty Kirti K Zasloff Michael M Mishra Bibhuti B Reddy E P EP Johnson Lynt L Mishra Lopa L

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20080208 7

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are critical for the initiation, propagation, and treatment resistance of multiple cancers. Yet functional interactions between specific signaling pathways in solid organ "cancer stem cells," such as those of the liver, remain elusive. We report that in regenerating human liver, two to four cells per 30,000-50,000 cells express stem cell proteins Stat3, Oct4, and Nanog, along with the prodifferentiation proteins TGF-beta-receptor type II (TBRII) and embryonic liver fodri ...[more]

PMID: 18263735

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Project description:Nonmammalian vertebrates regenerate lost sensory hair cells by means of asymmetric division of supporting cells. Inner ear or lateral line supporting cells in birds, amphibians, and fish consequently serve as bona fide stem cells resulting in high regenerative capacity of hair cell-bearing organs. Hair cell regeneration does not happen in the mammalian cochlea, but cells with proliferative capacity can be isolated from the neonatal cochlea. These cells have the ability to form clonal floating colonies, so-called spheres, when cultured in nonadherent conditions. We noticed that the sphere population derived from mouse cochlear sensory epithelium cells was heterogeneous, consisting of morphologically distinct sphere types, hereby classified as solid, transitional, and hollow. Cochlear sensory epithelium-derived stem/progenitor cells initially give rise to small solid spheres, which subsequently transition into hollow spheres, a change that is accompanied by epithelial differentiation of the majority of sphere cells. Only solid spheres, and to a lesser extent, transitional spheres, appeared to harbor self-renewing stem cells, whereas hollow spheres could not be consistently propagated. Solid spheres contained significantly more rapidly cycling Pax-2-expressing presumptive otic progenitor cells than hollow spheres. Islet-1, which becomes upregulated in nascent sensory patches, was also more abundant in solid than in hollow spheres. Likewise, hair cell-like cells, characterized by the expression of multiple hair cell markers, differentiated in significantly higher numbers in cell populations derived from solid spheres. We conclude that cochlear sensory epithelium cell populations initially give rise to small solid spheres that have self-renewing capacity before they subsequently convert into hollow spheres, a process that is accompanied by loss of stemness and reduced ability to spontaneously give rise to hair cell-like cells. Solid spheres might, therefore, represent the most suitable sphere type for cell-based assays or animal model transplantation studies aimed at development of cell replacement therapies.

Project description:Severe liver diseases are characterized by expansion of liver progenitor cells (LPC), which correlates with disease severity. However, the origin and role of LPC in liver physiology and in hepatic injury remains a contentious topic. We found that ductular reaction cells in human cirrhotic livers express hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox B (HNF1?). However, HNF1? expression was not present in newly generated epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)-positive hepatocytes. In order to investigate the role of HNF1?-expressing cells we used a tamoxifen-inducible Hnf1?CreER/R26R(Yfp/LacZ) mouse to lineage-trace Hnf1?(+) biliary duct cells and to assess their contribution to LPC expansion and hepatocyte generation. Lineage tracing demonstrated no contribution of HNF1?(+) cells to hepatocytes during liver homeostasis in healthy mice or after loss of liver mass. After acute acetaminophen or carbon tetrachloride injury no contribution of HNF1?(+) cells to hepatocyte was detected. We next assessed the contribution of Hnf1?(+) -derived cells following two liver injury models with LPC expansion, a diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydro-collidin (DDC)-diet and a choline-deficient ethionine-supplemented (CDE)-diet. The contribution of Hnf1?(+) cells to liver regeneration was dependent on the liver injury model. While no contribution was observed after DDC-diet treatment, mice fed with a CDE-diet showed a small population of hepatocytes derived from Hnf1?(+) cells that were expanded to 1.86% of total hepatocytes after injury recovery. Genome-wide expression profile of Hnf1?(+) -derived cells from the DDC and CDE models indicated that no contribution of LPC to hepatocytes was associated with LPC expression of genes related to telomere maintenance, inflammation, and chemokine signaling pathways.HNF1?(+) biliary duct cells are the origin of LPC. HNF1?(+) cells do not contribute to hepatocyte turnover in the healthy liver, but after certain liver injury, they can differentiate to hepatocytes contributing to liver regeneration.

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Progenitor/stem cells give rise to liver cancer due to aberrant TGF-beta and IL-6 signaling.

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Progenitor/stem cells give rise to liver cancer due to aberrant TGF-beta and IL-6 signaling.

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