title: Common stemness regulators of embryonic and cancer stem cells.
abstract: Pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells is regulated by a well characterized gene transcription circuitry. The circuitry is assembled by ESC specific transcription factors, signal transducing molecules and epigenetic regulators. Growing understanding of stem-like cells, albeit of more complex phenotypes, present in tumors (cancer stem cells), provides a common conceptual and research framework for basic and applied stem cell biology. In this review, we highlight current results on biomarkers, gene signatures, signaling pathways and epigenetic regulators that are common in embryonic and cancer stem cells. We discuss their role in determining the cell phenotype and finally, their potential use to design next generation biological and pharmaceutical approaches for regenerative medicine and cancer therapies.
authors.affiliation: Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Christiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hadjimichael
authors.affiliation: Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chanoumidou
authors.affiliation: Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papadopoulou
authors.affiliation: Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arampatzi
authors.affiliation: Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Papamatheakis
authors.affiliation: Christiana Hadjimichael, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Androniki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kretsovali
keywords: Cancer stem cells; Embryonic stem cells; Pluripotency; Self-renewal; Tumorigenicity