Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
Department of Molecular Biomedicine, Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas Margarita Salas, Spanish National Research Council (CIB-CSIC), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Cells. 2023 Mar 11;12(6):872. doi: 10.3390/cells12060872.
The earliest metazoans probably evolved from single-celled organisms which found the colonial system to be a beneficial organization. Over the course of their evolution, these primary colonial organisms increased in size, and division of labour among the cells became a remarkable feature, leading to a higher level of organization: the biological organs. Primitive metazoans were the first organisms in evolution to show organ-type structures, which set the grounds for complex organs to evolve. Throughout evolution, and concomitant with organogenesis, is the appearance of tissue-specific stem cells. Tissue-specific stem cells gave rise to multicellular living systems with distinct organs which perform specific physiological functions. This setting is a constructive role of evolution; however, rebel cells can take over the molecular mechanisms for other purposes: nowadays we know that cancer stem cells, which generate aberrant organ-like structures, are at the top of a hierarchy. Furthermore, cancer stem cells are the root of metastasis, therapy resistance, and relapse. At present, most therapeutic drugs are unable to target cancer stem cells and therefore, treatment becomes a challenging issue. We expect that future research will uncover the mechanistic "forces" driving organ growth, paving the way to the implementation of new strategies to impair human tumorigenesis.
最早的后生动物可能是从单细胞生物进化而来的，这些单细胞生物发现群体系统是一种有益的组织形式。在进化过程中，这些原始的群体生物体型增大，细胞之间的分工成为一个显著特征，导致更高水平的组织：生物器官。原始后生动物是进化过程中第一批表现出器官样结构的生物，为复杂器官的进化奠定了基础。在整个进化过程中，伴随着器官发生，出现了组织特异性干细胞。组织特异性干细胞产生了具有独特器官的多细胞生命系统，这些器官执行特定的生理功能。这种情况是进化的建设性作用；然而，叛逆细胞可以接管其他目的的分子机制：如今我们知道，产生异常器官样结构的癌症干细胞处于等级制度的顶端。此外，癌症干细胞是转移、治疗耐药和复发的根源。目前，大多数治疗药物都无法针对癌症干细胞，因此治疗成为一个具有挑战性的问题。我们期望未来的研究将揭示驱动器官生长的机制“力量”，为实施新策略来削弱人类肿瘤发生铺平道路。
