LB2
Potential of nucleostemin gene silencing for cancer stem cells therapy
Hamid Reza Mirzaei, Abbas Rezaei, Ali Mohammadi Bardbori
Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Recent studies provided evidence of the existence of a subpopulation of cells within a variety of tumour types with a tumourigenic potential that is lacking in the rest of the cells within these tumours such cells called cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs have stem-like properties, capability of self-renewal and multi-potency of differentiation. These cells are responsible for cancer recurrence and resistance to current anticancer therapies. There is mounting evidence that such cells exist in almost all tumour types. In the other hand, it has been shown that the nucleolar protein nucleostemin (NS) is preferentially and exclusively expressed in the stem cells, some types of cancer cells and other stem cell-enriched populations, but not in differentiated adult tissues and cells. NS is likely to take part in controlling the proliferation and differentiation switch in stem cells and progenitor cells. Its deregulation in cancer also contributes to the elevated proliferation and undifferentiation of cancer cells.
Therefore, we speculate that only small number of cancer cells, cancer stem cells, in at least some tumours having stem-cell like properties can express NS since it has been shown that tumours are heterogeneous populations. If so, gene silencing of NS in tumour-derived cancer stem cells may be a new approach for fighting against cancers. Such approach may changes CSCs fate or trait and perhaps their sensitivity to current anticancer therapies and/or even eradicates CSCs, the origin of cancer resistance and relapse, and hence as CSCs therapy.
