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Mediators of induced pluripotency and their role in cancer cells – current scientific knowledge and future perspectives
Author(s) -
Bernhardt Mathias,
Galach Marta,
Novak Daniel,
Utikal Jochen
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.144
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1860-7314
pISSN - 1860-6768
DOI - 10.1002/biot.201100347
Subject(s) - reprogramming , induced pluripotent stem cell , sox2 , klf4 , biology , carcinogenesis , cancer cell , microbiology and biotechnology , stem cell , cancer stem cell , cellular differentiation , embryonic stem cell , cancer , cancer research , cell , genetics , gene
The discovery that overexpression of the transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c‐Myc reprograms differentiated cells into “induced pluripotent stem cells” (iPSCs) has extended our understanding of mechanisms required to maintain stem cell pluripotency and to drive differentiation. Subsequently, additional factors have been discovered that are able to induce a pluripotent state. Recently several groups have succeeded in reprogramming cancer cells to iPSC‐like induced pluripotent cancer cells by use of the method established for the generation of iPSCs. This discovery highlighted several striking similarities between pluripotent stem cells and cancer cells, in turn implying that tumorigenesis and reprogramming are partly promoted by overlapping mechanisms. Thus, research on reprogramming might help unravel the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and vice versa. This review gives an overview of the common features of pluripotent stem cells and cancer cells and summarizes the present state of knowledge in the field of cancer cell reprogramming.