Emerging role of nanog in tumorigenesis and cancer stem cells

• Published in: International journal of cancer Vol. 135; no. 12; pp. 2741 - 2748
• Main Authors: IV Santaliz‐Ruiz, Luis E., Xie, Xiujie, Old, Matthew, Teknos, Theodoros N., Pan, Quintin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, NJ Wiley-Blackwell 15.12.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor - physiology; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Cancer; cancer initiating cells; cancer stem cells; Carcinogenesis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - metabolism; Colorectal Neoplasms - metabolism; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Head and Neck Neoplasms - metabolism; Homeodomain Proteins - physiology; Humans; Liver Neoplasms - metabolism; Lung Neoplasms - metabolism; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Mice; Nanog; Nanog Homeobox Protein; Neoplastic Stem Cells - cytology; NIH 3T3 Cells; Ovarian Neoplasms - metabolism; Phosphorylation; Prognosis; prognostic biomarkers; Prostatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Signal Transduction; Stem cells; Stomach Neoplasms - metabolism; Transcription factors; Treatment Outcome; Tumorigenesis; Tumors; prognostic biomarkers; Prognosis; cancer initiating cells; Stem cell; Biological marker; Tumorigenicity; Nanog; Cell transformation; Carcinogenesis; Cancerology; Cancer initiating cell; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Epithelial mesenchymal transition; cancer stem cells; Tumor cell
• ISSN: 0020-7136; 1097-0215
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.28690

Nanog is a transcription factor that is well‐established as a key regulator of embryonic stem cell (ESC) maintenance. Recent evidence demonstrates that Nanog is dysregulated and intimately involved in promoting tumorigenesis in part through regulation of the cancer stem cell (CSC) population. Elevated Nanog is associated with poorer outcome in numerous epithelial malignancies. Nanog is enriched in CSCs and ablation of Nanog is sufficient to reduce the CSC pool. Nanog has also been implicated to promote chemoresistance and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT). Insight into the Nanog signaling cascade, upstream regulators and downstream effectors, is beginning to emerge but remains to be fully elucidated. This review highlights the current literature on the emerging role of Nanog in tumorigenesis and CSCs.