Qin Haiyan, Bao Dongyu, Tong Xin, Hu Qingang, Sun Guowen, Huang Xiaofeng
Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China.
Nanjing Key Laboratory, Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China.
Tumour Biol. 2016 Dec;37:15349–15357. doi: 10.1007/s13277-016-5370-x. Epub 2016 Sep 21.
As stem cells contribute to the development and homeostasis of normal adult tissues, malfunction of stem cells in self-renewal and differentiation has been associated with tumorigenesis. A growing number of evidences indicating that tumor initiating cells play a crucial role, not only in malignancies, but also in generation and development of benign tumors. Here we offer an overview of the identification and functional characterization of benign tumor initiating cells in several tissues and organs, which typically show capacities of uncontrolled self-renewal to fuel the tumor growth and abnormal differentiation to give rise to tumor heterogeneity. They may originate from alteration of normal stem cells, which confer the benign tumor initiating cells with different repertoire of "stemness". The plastic functions of benign tumor initiating cells are determined by niche regulation mediated via several signaling and epigenetic cues. Therefore, targeting stem cell function represents an important strategy for understanding the biology and management of benign tumors.
由于干细胞有助于正常成年组织的发育和稳态，干细胞自我更新和分化功能的失调与肿瘤发生有关。越来越多的证据表明，肿瘤起始细胞不仅在恶性肿瘤中，而且在良性肿瘤的发生和发展中都起着关键作用。在此，我们概述了几种组织和器官中良性肿瘤起始细胞的鉴定和功能特征，这些细胞通常表现出不受控制的自我更新能力以促进肿瘤生长，以及异常分化能力以产生肿瘤异质性。它们可能起源于正常干细胞的改变，赋予良性肿瘤起始细胞不同的“干性”特征。良性肿瘤起始细胞的可塑性功能由通过多种信号和表观遗传线索介导的微环境调节所决定。因此，靶向干细胞功能是理解良性肿瘤生物学特性和治疗的重要策略。
