Research Team for Geriatric Medicine (Vascular Medicine), Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
Division of Aging and Carcinogenesis, Research Team for Geriatric Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
Histol Histopathol. 2019 Sep;34(9):995-1007. doi: 10.14670/HH-18-119. Epub 2019 Apr 26.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small group of cells within a tumor that preserve stemness and enhance regrowth of cancer cells. CSCs have important implications in resistance to conventional therapies and tumor relapse, although their detailed properties remain unknown. Thus, CSCs represent promising targets to improve cancer treatment. So far, a number of cell surface markers containing glycans have been exploited to identify and isolate CSCs. Cell surface glycans are well-known markers for specific cell types and also play important cellular roles, such as regulation of cell signaling. In normal stem cells, including embryonic and tissue stem cells, glycan markers in an undifferentiated state have been identified. These markers are mostly known to regulate signaling pathways required for maintenance of stemness. In contrast, CSC-specific glycans have not been well characterized yet. In this review, we summarize functional commonalities between CSCs and normal stem cells in glycan-mediated signaling pathways. Identification of CSC-specific glycans may lead to early diagnosis and radical treatment of cancer.
癌症干细胞（CSCs）是肿瘤中一小群具有干细胞特性的细胞，能够增强癌细胞的再生能力。CSCs 对抵抗传统疗法和肿瘤复发有重要意义，尽管其详细特性尚不清楚。因此，CSCs 是改善癌症治疗的有前途的靶点。到目前为止，已经利用了许多包含聚糖的细胞表面标志物来鉴定和分离 CSCs。细胞表面聚糖是特定细胞类型的已知标志物，并且还发挥着重要的细胞作用，例如调节细胞信号转导。在正常干细胞中，包括胚胎干细胞和组织干细胞，已经鉴定出未分化状态下的聚糖标志物。这些标志物主要用于调节维持干细胞特性所需的信号通路。相比之下，CSC 特异性聚糖尚未得到很好的表征。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 CSCs 和正常干细胞在糖基化介导的信号通路中的功能共性。CSC 特异性聚糖的鉴定可能导致癌症的早期诊断和根治性治疗。
