Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2014
Publication Source
Stem Cells Translational Medicine
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary brain cancer with an extremely poor prognosis. GBM tumors contain heterogeneous cellular components, including a small subpopulation of tumor cells termed glioma stem cells (GSCs). GSCs are characterized as chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-resistant cells with prominent tumorigenic ability. Studies in Drosophila cancer models demonstrated that interclonal cooperation and signaling from apoptotic clones provokes aggressive growth of neighboring tumorigenic clones, via compensatory proliferation or apoptosis induced proliferation. Mechanistically, these aggressive tumors depend on activation of Jun-N-terminal kinase (upstream of c-JUN), and Drosophila Wnt (Wg) in the apoptotic clones. Consistent with these nonmammalian studies, data from several mammalian studies have shown that c-JUN and Wnt are hyperactivated in aggressive tumors (including GBM). However, it remains elusive whether compensatory proliferation is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in cancers. In the present report, we summarize recent studies in Drosophila models and mammalian models (e.g., xenografts of human cancer cells into small animals) to elucidate the intercellular interactions between the apoptosis-prone cancer cells (e.g., non-GSCs) and the hyperproliferative cancer cells (e.g., GSCs). These evolving investigations will yield insights about molecular signaling interactions in the context of post-therapeutic phenotypic changes in human cancers. Furthermore, these studies are likely to revise our understanding of the genetic changes and post-therapeutic cell-cell interactions, which is a vital area of cancer biology with wide applications to many cancer types in humans.
Inclusive pages
1262–1268
ISBN/ISSN
2157-6564
Document Version
Published Version
Copyright
Copyright © 2014, Author(s), AlphaMed Press
Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Volume
3
Peer Reviewed
yes
Issue
11
eCommons Citation
Waghmare, Indrayani; Roebke, Austin; Minata, Mutsuko; Kango-Singh, Madhuri; and Nakano, Ichiro, "Intercellular Cooperation and Competition in Brain Cancers: Lessons From Drosophila and Human Studies" (2014). Biology Faculty Publications. 233.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/bio_fac_pub/233
Included in
Biology Commons, Biotechnology Commons, Cell Biology Commons, Genetics Commons, Microbiology Commons, Molecular Genetics Commons
Comments
This document has been made available for download in accordance with the publisher's open access policy. This document has been made available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Permission documentation on file.