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Stem Cell Signaling Pathways in Colorectal Cancer

  • Molecular Biology (S Anant, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Colorectal Cancer Reports

Abstract

Sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) is most often caused by cancer stem cells that form only a small part of the cell population of tumors at clinical presentation, but are responsible for their biological attributes including invasion, metastasis, radioresistance and chemoresistance. Like stem cells in adult tissue, cancer stem cells show evidence of symmetric division to maintain their population and also divide asymmetrically to generate more-differentiated cells. We review here the different signaling mechanisms associated with cancer stem cells in CRC. Wnt, Notch, and Hedgehog signaling are very important for maintenance and proliferation of the cancer stem cell population in CRC. In addition, signaling related to dietary components and body metabolism and signals from the gut microbiome, transduced via appropriate receptors and signaling pathways, contribute to generation and maintenance of cancer stem cells. The critical function of the tumor microenvironment, including stromal and endothelial cells, in enabling cancer stem cells to induce CRC is also briefly reviewed.

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B.S. Ramakrishna and Sam Vijay Kumar declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Center for Stem Cell Research, Christian Medical College, Vellore, 632002, India

    B. S. Ramakrishna & Sam Vijay Kumar

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, SRM Institutes for Medical Science, Vadapalani, Chennai, 600026, India

    B. S. Ramakrishna

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Ramakrishna, B.S., Kumar, S.V. Stem Cell Signaling Pathways in Colorectal Cancer. Curr Colorectal Cancer Rep 9, 341–349 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11888-013-0194-1

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