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Etiology and Pathogenesis > Cancer Stem Cells


Cancer Cell. 2007 Jan;11(1):69-82


Abstract

A Perivascular Niche for Brain Tumor Stem Cells

Christopher Calabrese,1 Helen Poppleton,1 Mehmet Kocak,2 Twala L. Hogg,1 Christine Fuller,3 Blair Hamner,4 Eun Young Oh,1 M. Waleed Gaber,5 David Finklestein,6 Meredith Allen,1 Adrian Frank,1 Ildar T. Bayazitov,1 Stanislav S. Zakharenko,1 Amar Gajjar,7 Andrew Davidoff,4 and Richard J. Gilbertson1,7,*

1Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 2Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 3Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 4Department of Surgery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 5Department of Radiation Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 6The Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 7Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. -- *Corresponding author Richard J. Gilbertson richard.gilbertson@stjude.org -- Received: June 22, 2006; Revised: October 3, 2006; Accepted: November 28, 2006; Published: January 15, 2007


Cancers are believed to arise from cancer stem cells (CSCs), but it is not known if these cells remain dependent upon the niche microenvironments that regulate normal stem cells. 
We show that endothelial cells interact closely with self-renewing brain tumor cells and secrete factors that maintain these cells in a stem cell-like state. 
Increasing the number of endothelial cells or blood vessels in orthotopic brain tumor xenografts expanded the fraction of self-renewing cells and accelerated the initiation and growth of tumors. 
Conversely, depletion of blood vessels from xenografts ablated self-renewing cells from tumors and arrested tumor growth. 
We propose that brain CSCs are maintained within vascular niches that are important targets for therapeutic approaches.

Copyright © 2007 Cell Press. All rights reserved
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