Sneddon Julie B, Werb Zena
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Cell Stem Cell. 2007 Dec 13;1(6):607-11. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2007.11.009.
The existence of a stem cell niche, or physiological microenvironment, consisting of specialized cells that directly and indirectly participate in stem cell regulation has been verified for mammalian adult stem cells in the intestinal, neural, epidermal, and hematopoietic systems. In light of these findings, it has been proposed that a "cancer stem cell niche" also exists and that interactions with this tumor niche may specify a self-renewing population of tumor cells. We discuss emerging data that support the idea of a veritable cancer stem cell niche and propose several models for the relationship between cancer cells and their niches.
干细胞生态位,即由直接和间接参与干细胞调节的特化细胞组成的生理微环境,已在肠道、神经、表皮和造血系统的哺乳动物成体干细胞中得到证实。鉴于这些发现,有人提出“癌症干细胞生态位”也存在,并且与这种肿瘤生态位的相互作用可能会确定一群自我更新的肿瘤细胞。我们讨论了支持真正的癌症干细胞生态位这一观点的新数据,并提出了几种癌细胞与其生态位之间关系的模型。