{"title":"Homeobox Gene Deregulation: Impact on the Hallmarks of Cancer.","authors":"Dhwani Haria, Honami Naora","doi":"10.1166/ch.2013.1007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1166/ch.2013.1007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Homeobox genes comprise a super-family of evolutionarily conserved genes that play essential roles in controlling body plan specification and cell fate determination. Substantial evidence indicates that leukemogenesis is driven by abnormal expression of homeobox genes that control hematopoiesis. In solid tumors, aberrant expression of homeobox genes has been increasingly found to modulate diverse processes such as cell proliferation, cell death, metastasis, angiogenesis and DNA repair. This review discusses how homeobox genes are deregulated in solid tumors and the functional significance of this deregulation in the hallmarks of cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":90133,"journal":{"name":"Cancer hallmarks","volume":"1 2-3","pages":"67-76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3992520/pdf/nihms571840.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"32287765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Weijia Zhang, Kazuharu Kai, Naoto T Ueno, Lidong Qin
{"title":"A Brief Review of the Biophysical Hallmarks of Metastatic Cancer Cells.","authors":"Weijia Zhang, Kazuharu Kai, Naoto T Ueno, Lidong Qin","doi":"10.1166/ch.2013.1010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1166/ch.2013.1010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A hallmark of metastatic cancer cells is their invasion through the basal membrane and endothelial layer, which requires a highly elastic cytoskeleton and nucleus. Therefore, cellular deformability can serve as a universal biophysical marker for detecting a tumor's propensity for invasion, migration, and metastasis. In this review, we define the importance of the biophysical features of cancer cells in tumor metastasis and summarize the state-of-the-art technology for the study of cell biomechanics. This review will serve as a brief introduction to the interdisciplinary character of cancer cell biophysics for cancer biologists, physicists, and engineers.</p>","PeriodicalId":90133,"journal":{"name":"Cancer hallmarks","volume":"1 2-3","pages":"59-66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189832/pdf/nihms591811.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"32743113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition---A Hallmark of Breast Cancer Metastasis.","authors":"Yifan Wang, Binhua P Zhou","doi":"10.1166/ch.2013.1004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1166/ch.2013.1004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a highly conserved cellular program that converts polarized, immotile epithelial cells to migratory mesenchymal cells. In addition, EMT was initially recognized as a key step for morphogenesis during embryonic development. Emerging evidences indicate that this important developmental program promotes metastasis, drug resistance, and tumor recurrence, features that are associated with a poor clinical outcome for patients with breast cancer. Therefore, better understanding of regulation and signaling pathways in EMT is essential to develop novel targeted therapeutics. In this review, we present updated developments underlying EMT in tumor progression and metastasis, and discuss the challenges remaining in breast cancer research.</p>","PeriodicalId":90133,"journal":{"name":"Cancer hallmarks","volume":"1 1","pages":"38-49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3944831/pdf/nihms-483395.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40294645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}