title: BMI-1, a promising therapeutic target for human cancer.
abstract: BMI-1oncogene is a member of the polycomb-group gene family and a transcriptional repressor. Overexpression of BMI-1 has been identified in various human cancer tissues and is known to be involved in cancer cell proliferation, cell invasion, distant metastasis, chemosensitivity and patient survival. Accumulating evidence has revealed that BMI-1 is also involved in the regulation of self-renewal, differentiation and tumor initiation of cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these biological processes remain unclear. The present review summarized the function of BMI-1 in different human cancer types and CSCs, and discussed the signaling pathways in which BMI-1 is potentially involved. In conclusion, BMI-1 may represent a promising target for the prevention and therapy of various cancer types.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Min-Cong
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chun-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ke-Jun
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Nan
keywords: BMI-1; cancer stem cells; human cancer; poor prognosis; therapeutic target