The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells
Neoplastic diseases are still a major medical challenge, requiring a constant search for new therapeutic options. A serious problem of many cancers is resistance to anticancer drugs and disease progression in metastases or local recurrence. These characteristics of cancer cells may be related to the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/1/89 |
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| author | Julia Szymonik Kamila Wala Tomasz Górnicki Jolanta Saczko Bartosz Pencakowski Julita Kulbacka |
| author_facet | Julia Szymonik Kamila Wala Tomasz Górnicki Jolanta Saczko Bartosz Pencakowski Julita Kulbacka |
| author_sort | Julia Szymonik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Neoplastic diseases are still a major medical challenge, requiring a constant search for new therapeutic options. A serious problem of many cancers is resistance to anticancer drugs and disease progression in metastases or local recurrence. These characteristics of cancer cells may be related to the specific properties of cancer stem cells (CSC). CSCs are involved in inhibiting cells’ maturation, which is essential for maintaining their self-renewal capacity and pluripotency. They show increased expression of transcription factor proteins, which were defined as stemness-related markers. This group of proteins includes OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, Nanog, and SALL4. It has been noticed that the metabolism of cancer cells is changed, and the demand for iron is significantly increased. Iron chelators have been proven to have antitumor activity and influence the expression of stemness-related markers, thus reducing chemoresistance and the risk of tumor cell progression. This prompts further investigation of these agents as promising anticancer novel drugs. The article presents the characteristics of stemness markers and their influence on the development and course of neoplastic disease. Available iron chelators were also described, and their effects on cancer cells and expression of stemness-related markers were analyzed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:40:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5c41df1b7c034021a47721d1cff2d923 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:40:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-5c41df1b7c034021a47721d1cff2d9232023-11-23T11:34:44ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672021-12-012318910.3390/ijms23010089The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem CellsJulia Szymonik0Kamila Wala1Tomasz Górnicki2Jolanta Saczko3Bartosz Pencakowski4Julita Kulbacka5Faculty of Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, PolandFaculty of Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, PolandFaculty of Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, PolandDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-556 Wroclaw, PolandDepartment of Pharmaceutical Biology and Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, PolandDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-556 Wroclaw, PolandNeoplastic diseases are still a major medical challenge, requiring a constant search for new therapeutic options. A serious problem of many cancers is resistance to anticancer drugs and disease progression in metastases or local recurrence. These characteristics of cancer cells may be related to the specific properties of cancer stem cells (CSC). CSCs are involved in inhibiting cells’ maturation, which is essential for maintaining their self-renewal capacity and pluripotency. They show increased expression of transcription factor proteins, which were defined as stemness-related markers. This group of proteins includes OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, Nanog, and SALL4. It has been noticed that the metabolism of cancer cells is changed, and the demand for iron is significantly increased. Iron chelators have been proven to have antitumor activity and influence the expression of stemness-related markers, thus reducing chemoresistance and the risk of tumor cell progression. This prompts further investigation of these agents as promising anticancer novel drugs. The article presents the characteristics of stemness markers and their influence on the development and course of neoplastic disease. Available iron chelators were also described, and their effects on cancer cells and expression of stemness-related markers were analyzed.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/1/89cancer stem cellsstemness markersiron chelatorsdeferoxaminedeferasirox |
| spellingShingle | Julia Szymonik Kamila Wala Tomasz Górnicki Jolanta Saczko Bartosz Pencakowski Julita Kulbacka The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells International Journal of Molecular Sciences cancer stem cells stemness markers iron chelators deferoxamine deferasirox |
| title | The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells |
| title_full | The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells |
| title_short | The Impact of Iron Chelators on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells |
| title_sort | impact of iron chelators on the biology of cancer stem cells |
| topic | cancer stem cells stemness markers iron chelators deferoxamine deferasirox |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/1/89 |
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