Even cancers want commitment: lineage identity and medulloblastoma formation.
In this issue of Cancer Cell, Yang et al. (2008) and Schüller et al. (2008) show that Hedgehog activation in either multipotent neural stem cells or developmentally restricted progenitors causes only medulloblastomas to form. These data suggest that some stem cell-derived tumors must commit to a specific lineage in order to grow.
Eberhart
Charles G
CG
Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. ceberha@jhmi.edu
D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D054022:Cerebrum / Q000473:pathology; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D000072079:Patched Receptors; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology
D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D000072079:Patched Receptors; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface