ALDH1 as a functional marker of cancer stem and progenitor cells.

Stem cells have now been described in a variety of tissues, even in those where the cells' turn over rate is slow, such as the brain and the resting mammary gland. There is also accumulating evidence that tumors are derived from and are maintained by a rare population of dysregulated stem cells. However, discrepancies in the markers used and reported have slowed down the functional characterization of these somatic stem cells.

Histone tail modifications and noncanonical functions of histones: perspectives in cancer epigenetics.

Over the past few years, the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have occupied an important place in the effort to develop novel, but less toxic, anticancer therapy. HDAC inhibitors block HDACs, which are the enzymes responsible for histone deacetylation, and therefore they modulate gene expression. The cellular effects of HDAC inhibitors include growth arrest and the induction of differentiation.

SP analysis may be used to identify cancer stem cell populations.

Side populations (SP), as defined by Hoechst exclusion in flow cytometry, have been described a few years ago. While they represent only a small fraction of the whole cell population, their properties confer an important place in several investigations. SP cells express high levels of various members of ABC transporters family, such as MDR1 and BCRP, which are responsible for drug resistance.

Histonefection: Novel and potent non-viral gene delivery.

Protein/peptide-mediated gene delivery has recently emerged as a powerful approach in non-viral gene transfer. In previous studies, we and other groups found that histones efficiently mediate gene transfer (histonefection). Histonefection has been demonstrated to be effective with various members of the histone family.

Structure and function correlation in histone H2A peptide-mediated gene transfer.

Histone H2A has been found to be efficient in DNA delivery into a number of cell lines. We have reasoned that this DNA-delivery activity is mediated by two mechanisms: (i) electrostatically driven DNA binding and condensation by histone and (ii) nuclear import of these histone H2A.DNA polyplexes via nuclear localization signals in the protein.