“
“The

relationship between mutated proteins and the cancer stem-cell population is unclear. Glioblastoma tumors frequently express EGFRvIII, an EGF receptor (EGFR) variant that arises via gene rearrangement and amplification. However, expression of EGFRvIII is restricted despite the prevalence of the alteration. Here, we show that EGFRvIII is highly coexpressed with CD133 and that EGFRvIII(+)/CD133(+) defines the population of cancer stem cells (CSC) with the highest degree of self-renewal and tumor-initiating ability. EGFRvIII+ cells are associated with other stem/progenitor markers, whereas markers of differentiation are found Selleck Autophagy inhibitor in EGFRvIII(-) cells. EGFRvIII expression is lost in standard cell culture, but its expression is maintained in tumor sphere culture, and cultured find more cells also retain the EGFRvIII(+)/CD133(+) coexpression, self-renewal, and tumor initiating abilities. Elimination

of the EGFRvIII(+)/CD133(+) population using a bispecific antibody reduced tumorigenicity of implanted tumor cells better than any reagent directed against a single epitope. This work demonstrates that a mutated oncogene can have CSC-specific expression and be used to specifically target this population. (C)2013 AACR.”
“Myeloproliferative neoplasms

(MPNs) are clonal hematological diseases in which cells of the myelo-erythroid lineage are overproduced and patients are predisposed to leukemic transformation. Hematopoietic stem cells are the suspected disease-initiating cells, and these cells Wnt pathway must acquire a clonal advantage relative to nonmutant hematopoietic stem cells to perpetuate disease. In 2005, several groups identified a single gain-of-function point mutation in JAK2 that associated with the majority of MPNs, and subsequent studies have led to a comprehensive understanding of the mutational landscape in MPNs. However, confusion still exists as to how a single genetic aberration can be associated with multiple distinct disease entities. Many explanations have been proposed, including JAK2V617F homozygosity, individual patient heterogeneity, and the differential regulation of downstream JAK2 signaling pathways. Several groups have made knock-in mouse models expressing JAK2V617F and have observed divergent phenotypes, each recapitulating some aspects of disease. Intriguingly, most of these models do not observe a strong hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal advantage compared with wild-type littermate controls, raising the question of how a clonal advantage is established in patients with MPNs.