Cell division symmetry control and cancer stem cells

Sreemita Majumdar; Song-Tao Liu; Sreemita Majumdar; Song-Tao Liu

doi:10.3934/molsci.2020006

AIMS Molecular Science

2020, Volume 7, Issue 2: 82-101. doi: 10.3934/molsci.2020006

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Review

Cell division symmetry control and cancer stem cells

Sreemita Majumdar ,
Song-Tao Liu ^,

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Received: 15 February 2020 Accepted: 26 April 2020 Published: 06 May 2020

Stem cells including cancer stem cells (CSC) divide symmetrically or asymmetrically. Usually symmetric cell division makes two daughter cells of the same fate, either as stem cells or more differentiated progenies; while asymmetric cell division (ACD) produces daughter cells of different fates. In this review, we first provide an overview of ACD, and then discuss more molecular details of ACD using the well-characterized Drosophila neuroblast system as an example. Aiming to explore the connections between cell heterogeneity in cancers and the critical need of ACD for self-renewal and generating cell diversity, we then examine how cell division symmetry control impacts common features associated with CSCs, including niche competition, cancer dormancy, drug resistance, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reverse process mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), and cancer stem cell plasticity. As CSC may underlie resistance to therapy and cancer metastasis, understanding how cell division mode is selected and executed in these cells will provide possible strategies to target CSC.
- cancer stem cells,
- asymmetric cell division,
- symmetric cell division,
- fate determinants,
- stem cell plasticity,
- cancer dormancy,
- epithelial-mesenchymal transition,
- mesenchymal-epithelial transition
Citation: Sreemita Majumdar, Song-Tao Liu. Cell division symmetry control and cancer stem cells[J]. AIMS Molecular Science, 2020, 7(2): 82-101. doi: 10.3934/molsci.2020006

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Abstract

Stem cells including cancer stem cells (CSC) divide symmetrically or asymmetrically. Usually symmetric cell division makes two daughter cells of the same fate, either as stem cells or more differentiated progenies; while asymmetric cell division (ACD) produces daughter cells of different fates. In this review, we first provide an overview of ACD, and then discuss more molecular details of ACD using the well-characterized Drosophila neuroblast system as an example. Aiming to explore the connections between cell heterogeneity in cancers and the critical need of ACD for self-renewal and generating cell diversity, we then examine how cell division symmetry control impacts common features associated with CSCs, including niche competition, cancer dormancy, drug resistance, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reverse process mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), and cancer stem cell plasticity. As CSC may underlie resistance to therapy and cancer metastasis, understanding how cell division mode is selected and executed in these cells will provide possible strategies to target CSC.

Abbreviation ACD: asymmetric cell division; CSC: cancer stem cells; EMT: epithelial-mesenchymal transition; GMC: Ganglion mother cell; MET: mesenchymal-epithelial transition; SCD: symmetric cell division;
Acknowledgments

The work in the Liu lab is funded by National Institutes of Health (R15CA238894) and UToledo Biomedical Research Innovation Award.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare there is no conflict of interest.

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