Cancer stem cells induced by chronic stimulation with prostaglandin E2 exhibited constitutively activated PI3K axis.

Previously, our group has demonstrated establishment of Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) models from stem cells in the presence of conditioned medium of cancer cell lines. In this study, we tried to identify the factors responsible for the induction of CSCs. Since we found the lipid composition could be traced to arachidonic acid cascade in the CSC model, we assessed prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as a candidate for the ability to induce CSCs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

Guanine-oligothiophene conjugates: liquid-crystalline properties, photoconductivities and ion-responsive emission of their nanoscale assemblies.

We here report the supramolecular self-assembly of hydrogen-bonded motifs for the development of nanostructured materials that exhibit dynamic functions such as stimuli-responsive properties and molecular recognition behaviour. We have designed and synthesised new thermotropic bicontinuous and columnar liquid-crystalline (LC) guanine-oligothiophene conjugates tethered with lipophilic chains, which exhibit ionic, electronic and photoluminescence properties. Their potassium salt complexes self-assemble into thermotropic columnar LC phases.