TY - JOUR
T1 - Reflected stemness as a potential driver of the tumour microenvironment
AU - Rodrigues, Felipe S
AU - Ciccarelli, Francesca D
AU - Malanchi, Ilaria
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Nicolas Rabas and Steven Nottley for critically revising the manuscript. F.R. and I.M. were supported by The Francis Crick Institute which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK ( FC001112 ), the UK Medical Research Council ( FC001112 ), the Wellcome Trust ( FC001112 ), and the European Research Council ( ERC CoG-H2020- 725492 ). F.C. was supported by Cancer Research UK ( C43634/A25487 and EDDPJT-Nov21\100010 ), the Marie Skłodowska-Curie action programme ( CONTRA-766030 ), and the Francis Crick Institute .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - A fundamental requirement for cancer initiation is the activation of developmental programmes by mutant cells. Oncogenic signals often confer an undifferentiated, stem cell-like phenotype that supports the long-term proliferative potential of cancer cells. Although cancer is a genetically driven disease, mutations in cancer-driver genes alone are insufficient for tumour formation, and the proliferation of cells harbouring oncogenic mutations depends on their microenvironment. In this Opinion article we discuss how the reprogrammed status of cancer cells not only represents the essence of their tumorigenicity but triggers 'reflected stemness' in their surrounding normal counterparts. We propose that this reciprocal interaction underpins the establishment of the tumour microenvironment (TME).
AB - A fundamental requirement for cancer initiation is the activation of developmental programmes by mutant cells. Oncogenic signals often confer an undifferentiated, stem cell-like phenotype that supports the long-term proliferative potential of cancer cells. Although cancer is a genetically driven disease, mutations in cancer-driver genes alone are insufficient for tumour formation, and the proliferation of cells harbouring oncogenic mutations depends on their microenvironment. In this Opinion article we discuss how the reprogrammed status of cancer cells not only represents the essence of their tumorigenicity but triggers 'reflected stemness' in their surrounding normal counterparts. We propose that this reciprocal interaction underpins the establishment of the tumour microenvironment (TME).
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130408167&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tcb.2022.04.007
DO - 10.1016/j.tcb.2022.04.007
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35589467
SN - 0962-8924
VL - 32
SP - 979
EP - 987
JO - Trends in cell biology
JF - Trends in cell biology
IS - 12
ER -