Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) plays a key role in breast cancer progression and was recently shown to bind to the chaperone protein glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78); however, the clinical significance of this association remains poorly investigated. Here we report a direct correlation between the expression of GRP78 and IGFBP-3 in breast cancer cell lines and tumour sections. Kaplan-Meier survival plots revealed that patients with low GRP78 expression that are positive for IGFBP-3 had poorer survival rates than those with low IGFBP-3 levels, and we observed a similar trend in the publicly available METABRIC gene expression database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA common feature among pre-malignant lesions is the induction of hypoxia through increased cell propagation and reduced access to blood flow. Hypoxia in breast cancer has been associated with poor patient prognosis, resistance to chemotherapy and increased metastasis. Although hypoxia has been correlated with factors associated with the latter stages of cancer progression, it is not well documented how hypoxia influences cells in the earliest stages of transformation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe importance of the Wnt-signaling pathway on the regulation and maintenance of the intestinal stem cell (ISC) population is well recognized. However, our current knowledge base is founded on models using systems of gross deregulation of the Wnt-signaling pathway. Given the importance of this signaling pathway on intestinal homeostasis, there is a need to explore the role of more subtle alterations in Wnt-signaling levels within this tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Understanding the mechanisms controlling stem cell differentiation is the key to future advances in tissue and organ regeneration. Embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation can be triggered by embryoid body (EB) formation, which involves ES cell aggregation in suspension. EB growth in the absence of leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) leads EBs to mimic early embryonic development, giving rise to markers representative of endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm.
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