Don’t misbehave: reprogramming cell fates in the regulation of stem cells and cancer
講師：
伊藤 貴浩
所属：
ジョージア大学 生化学分子生物学部
担当：
本橋 ほづみ（所属 遺伝子発現制御分野・内線8550）
要旨：
Stem cells and cancer share a characteristic ability of self-renewal, which is essential for long-term maintenance of both cell types in vivo. Similar to a hierarchy of stem and progenitor cells in normal tissues, many types of tumors are maintained by a population of self-renewing cancer cells while the bulk of the tumor is consisted of more differentiated cells with no or limited renewal activity. The self-renewing cancer cells, or cancer stem cells, are often resistant to conventional therapies and thereby mediate tumor relapse. With the ability to self-renew and propagate the tumor, cancer stem cells also contribute to metastasis and disease progression to a more aggressive, often fatal, disease phase. Therefore, regulatory mechanisms of stem cell fates have emerged as one of the promising areas for targeted cancer therapies. Nonetheless, the basic biology of self-renewal remains to be elucidated. We are particularly interested in the cell fate regulatory circuits governed by RNA binding proteins and cell metabolism, and I would like to discuss recent findings from our and other labs on how these factors maintain self-renewal potential and contribute to cancer development in myeloid leukemia.
