Human endogenous retroviruses role in cancer cell stemness. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Matteucci, Claudia; Balestrieri, Emanuela; Argaw-Denboba, Ayele; Sinibaldi-Vallebona, Paola
• Is Part Of: Seminars in cancer biology. Volume 53(2018)
• Page Start: 17
• Page End: 30
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Akt protein kinase B -- ASD autism spectrum disorders -- 5 aza C azacytidine -- CAR-T chimeric antigen receptor T cells -- CLL chronic lymphocytic leukemia -- CTCLs T-cell lymphomas -- CTLs cytotoxic T lymphocytes -- CSCs cancer stem cells -- CSF1R colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor -- EBV Epstein Barr virus -- Env envelope -- ER estrogen receptor -- ERK extracellular signal-regulated kinase -- ERVWE1 endogenous retrovirus group W envelope member 1 -- ESCs embryonic stem cells -- HBx x protein of hepatitis B virus -- HDACI histone deacetylase inhibitors -- HEMO endogenous retrovirus group MER34 member 1 -- HERVs human endogenous retroviruses -- HIV human immunodeficiency virus -- HML human endogenous MMTV-like -- HQ hydroquinone -- hSGT human small glutamine-rich tetratricopeptide repeat protein -- HTDV human teratocarcinoma-derived virus -- HTLV-1 human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 -- IFITM1 interferon induced transmembrane protein 1 -- IFN-γ interferon-γ -- iPSCs induced pluripotent stem cells -- IRF1 interferon regulatory factor 1 -- ISREs interferon-stimulated response elements -- Klf4 Krüppel-like factor 4 -- KSHV Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus -- LINE long interspersed nuclear elements -- lncRNA long non-coding RNA -- LNX E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase -- LPS lipopolysaccharide -- LTRs long terminal repeats -- MaLR mammalian apparent LTR retrotransposon -- Melan A/MART-1 melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 -- MHC-I major histocompatibility complex -- MS multiple sclerosis -- Myc avian myelocytomatosis virus oncogene cellular homolog -- Nanog DNA binding homeobox transcription factor -- NF-kB nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells -- NNRTIs non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors -- Oct4 octamer-binding transcription factor 4 -- ORFs open reading frames -- PBMCs peripheral blood mononuclear cells -- PLZF promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger -- Pol polymerase -- RPMI standard medium -- RT reverse-transcriptase -- SINE short interspersed nuclear elements -- SLE systemic lupus erythematosus -- Sox2 transcription factor Sex determining region Y-box 2 -- SRY sex-determining region Y TLR4, toll like receptor 4 -- TZFP testicular zinc-finger protein; Cancer stem cell -- Cancer therapy -- Embryonic transcription factors -- Human endogenous retroviruses -- Phenotype switching; Cancer -- Periodicals; Neoplasms -- Periodicals; Review Literature; Cancer -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 616.994
• DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.10.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1044-579X

Abstract

Abstract: Cancer incidence and mortality, metastasis, drug resistance and recurrence are still the critical issues of oncological diseases. In this scenario, increasing scientific evidences demonstrate that the activation of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) is involved in the aggressiveness of tumors such as melanoma, breast, germ cell, renal, ovarian, liver and haematological cancers. In their dynamic regulation, HERVs have also proved to be important determinants of pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (ESC) and of the reprogramming process of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In many types of tumors, essential characteristics of aggressiveness have been associated with the achievement of stemness features, often accompanied with the identification of defined subpopulations, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs), which possess stem cell-like properties and sustain tumorigenesis. Indeed, CSCs show high self-renewal capacity with a peculiar potential in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, heterogeneity, recurrence, radiotherapy and drug resistance. However, HERVs role in CSCs biology is still not fully elucidated. In this regard, CD133 is a widely recognized marker of CSCs, and our group demonstrated, for the first time, the requirement of HERV-K activation to expand and maintain a CD133+ melanoma cell subpopulation with stemness features in response to microenvironmental modifications. The review will discuss HERVs expression as cancer hallmark, with particular focus on their role in the regulation of cancer stemness features and the potential involvement as targets for therapy.