Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in primary breast cancer tissues and cell lines. The CSC population varies widely among cancerous tissues and cell lines, and is often associated with aggressive breast cancers. Despite of intensive research, how the CSC population is regulated within a tumor is still not well understood so far. In this paper, we present a mathematical model to expl...

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women worldwide. Recent studies have provided strong support for the cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis, which suggests that many cancers, including breast cancer, are driven by a subpopulation of cells that display stem cell-like properties. The hypothesis that a subpopulation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) possesses many ...

The cancer stem cell hypothesis suggests that, unlike most cancer cells within a tumor, cancer stem cells resist chemotherapeutic drugs and can regenerate the various cell types in the tumor, thereby causing relapse of the disease. Thus, drugs that selectively target cancer stem cells offer great promise for cancer treatment, particularly in combination with chemotherapy. Here, we show that low...

Objective(s): Controversial results have been reported regarding the anti-tumor properties of extracellular vesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The present study was conducted to evaluate whether secretome derived from Human Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (hWJMSCs) may stimulate or inhibit breast cancer growth in vitro and in vivo.<st...

Aberrant activation of Notch and Ras pathways has been detected in breast cancers. A synergy between these two pathways has also been shown in breast cell transformation in culture. Yet, the clinical relevance of Notch-Ras cooperation in breast cancer progression remains unexplored. In this study, we show that coordinate hyperactivation of Notch1 and Ras/MAPK pathways in breast cancer patient s...

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that is characterized by a high grade of cell plasticity arising from the contribution of a diverse range of factors. When combined, these factors allow a cancer cell to transition from an epithelial to a mesenchymal state through a process of dedifferentiation that confers stem-like features, including chemoresistance, as well as the capacity to migrate...

objective: mir-302-367 is a cluster of polycistronic micrornas that are exclusively expressed in embryonic stem (es) cells. the mir-302-367 promoter is functional during embryonic development but is turned off in later stages. motivated by the cancer stem cell hypothesis, we explored the potential expression of mir-302 in brain tumor cell lines. materials and methods: in the present experimenta...

tissue-engineered biomaterials have existed approximately 40 years as simple biomimetic structures. replacement of human tissue with new tissue can be accomplished by generating replacements outside of the body or in situ in the body. in each case, the key elements are described as the tissue engineering triad of scaffolds, cells, and signals. scaffolds can be produced synthetically or derived ...

Background Recent studies revealed that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a decisive role in the regulation of tumor progression by manipulating tumor oncogenesis, angiogenesis and immune functions within tumor microenvironments. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which is a point of convergence for numerous oncogenic signalling pathways, is constitutively activ...