title: Laminins and cancer stem cells: Partners in crime?
abstract: As one of the predominant protein families within the extracellular matrix both structurally and functionally, laminins have been shown to be heavily involved in tumor progression and drug resistance. Laminins participate in key cellular events for tumor angiogenesis, cell invasion and metastasis development, including the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and basement membrane remodeling, which are tightly associated with the phenotypic characteristics of stem-like cells, particularly in the context of cancer. In addition, a great deal of studies and reports has highlighted the critical roles of laminins in modulating stem cell phenotype and differentiation, as part of the stem cell niche. Stemming from these discoveries a growing body of literature suggests that laminins may act as regulators of cancer stem cells, a tumor cell subpopulation that plays an instrumental role in long-term cancer maintenance, metastasis development and therapeutic resistance. The accumulating evidence in this emerging research area suggests that laminins represent potential therapeutic targets for anti-cancer treatments against cancer stem cells, and that they may be used as predictive and prognostic markers to inform clinical management and improve patient survival.
authors: Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Electronic address: yanq1@student.unimelb.edu.au.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Qin
authors: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: sergey.rodin@ki.se.
authors: Sergey
authors: S
authors: Rodin
authors: Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: Oscar.Simonson@ki.se.
authors: Oscar E
authors: OE
authors: Simonson
authors: Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Electronic address: frederic.hollande@unimelb.edu.au.
authors: Frédéric
authors: F
authors: Hollande
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018450:Disease Progression; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007797:Laminin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007797:Laminin
keywords: Basement membrane; Cancer stem cells; Laminins; Pluripotent stem cells