title: Tumor microenvironment for cancer stem cells.
abstract: Tumor tissues consist of heterogeneous cancer cells including cancer stem cells (CSCs) that can terminally differentiate into cancer cells. Tissue-specific stem cells in normal organs maintain their stemness in a specific microenvironment, the stem cell niche; several studies have suggested that there are specific microenvironments that maintain CSCs in an immature phenotype. Cell types in a CSC niche vary from fibroblasts, to endothelial cells, immune cells, and so on; these non-cancer cells have been suggested to change their original features in the normal tissue/organ and to acquire a phenotype that protects CSCs from anticancer therapies. Therefore, to kill CSCs, we need to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the maintenance of the immature phenotype of CSCs and in drug resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Signal Transduction, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kise
authors.affiliation: Department of Signal Transduction, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kinugasa-Katayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Signal Transduction, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Electronic address: ntakaku@biken.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takakura
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000473:pathology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cancer stem cells; Endothelial cells; Macrophages; Myofibroblasts; Niche; Tumor microenvironment