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CD44 targetting eliminates body of leukemic stem cells (and its on breast cancer stem
cells too!):
Targeting CD44 Eliminates Leukemic Stem Cells
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Sept 25 - Studies in SCID mice that were transplanted with human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells show that targeting the adhesion molecule CD44 leads to the loss of leukemic stem cells, researchers report in the September edition of Nature Medicine.
Senior investigator Dr. John E. Dick told Reuters Health that the study "provides a strategy to target the leukemic stem cells that are responsible for maintaining leukemic growth. We have learned," he continued, "that leukemic stem cells require trafficking to specific niches -- or supportive locations in the body -- to maintain their stemness."
By using an activating monoclonal antibody directed at CD44, Dr. Dick of the University of Toronto and colleagues managed to markedly reduce leukemic cell repopulation in the animals. leukemic stem cells, the authors note, are the only cell type capable of maintaining the leukemic clonal hierarchy.
These findings, said Dr. Dick, "demonstrate that the possibility of targeting a specific stem cell property, in this case trafficking, that can eradicate a so-called cancer stem cell."
"Since there are many proteins involved in trafficking," he added, "many of these could now be tested to determine if they also have anti-cancer stem cell activity."
The team further speculates that CD44 may be involved in the maintenance of solid tumors. Breast cancer stem cells, they observe, have been shown to express CD44.
Alteration of CD44 regulation, they conclude, "may provide a generalized therapeutic strategy to eradicate cancer stem cells through interrupting their interaction with supportive microenvironments."
Nat Med 2006.
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