Morii Eiichi
Department of Pathology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
J Toxicol Pathol. 2017 Jan;30(1):1-6. doi: 10.1293/tox.2016-0056. Epub 2016 Sep 25.
Tumors derive from a single cell clone but consist of heterogeneous cell subpopulations with diverse features and functions. A limited number of subclones with a selective advantage can initiate tumors when inoculated into immunocompromised mice, and are called cancer-initiating cells (CICs). CICs can be isolated from the bulk of tumors on the basis of their characteristics, such as high reagent efflux, degradation of reactive oxygen species, and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. Under normal conditions, new CICs are produced by existing CICs rather than non-CICs. However, under stress conditions, non-CICs can occasionally produce CICs, a phenomenon known as plasticity. The dynamic exchange between CICs and non-CICs may enable tumors to survive under unfavorable conditions. CICs are located in a small portion of tumors. This suggests that microenvironmental factors induce or inhibit the CIC phenotype, which might be regulated by intercellular signaling between tumor cells. This review describes isolation of CICs from tumor cell populations and the microenvironmental factors that regulate CIC phenotypes in uterine cancer and lymphoma.
肿瘤起源于单个细胞克隆，但由具有不同特征和功能的异质性细胞亚群组成。当接种到免疫缺陷小鼠体内时，少数具有选择性优势的亚克隆可以引发肿瘤，这些亚克隆被称为癌症起始细胞（CICs）。CICs可以根据其特征从大量肿瘤中分离出来，例如高试剂外排、活性氧的降解以及醛脱氢酶（ALDH）活性。在正常情况下，新的CICs是由现有的CICs产生的，而不是由非CICs产生。然而，在应激条件下，非CICs偶尔也可以产生CICs，这种现象被称为可塑性。CICs和非CICs之间的动态交换可能使肿瘤在不利条件下存活。CICs位于肿瘤的一小部分中。这表明微环境因素诱导或抑制CIC表型，这可能由肿瘤细胞之间的细胞间信号传导来调节。本综述描述了从肿瘤细胞群体中分离CICs以及调节子宫癌和淋巴瘤中CIC表型的微环境因素。
