Table 1 Comparison of cancer cell properties between cancer, mesenchymal type, epithelial type and neural cells
Cancer cell properties, and genes or pathways regulating the properties | Cancer cells | Mesenchymal type cells | Epithelial type cells | Neural precursor/progenitor/stem cells |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Marker genesa | Around 400 genes with upregulation/activation in cancer, including mesenchymal marker genes and neural progenitor/stem cell marker genes [6] | CTNNB1, CDH2, SNAI1, SNAI2, TWIST1, VIMENTIN, ZEB1, ZEB2 | CDH1 | ABCG2, ASCL1, CTNNB1, BMI1, CDH2, CXCR4, FGFR2, FGFR4, FUT4, GLUT1, HES1, ID2, JAG1, JUN, MSI1, NESTIN, NOTCH1, PDGFRA, ROR2, SNAI1, SOX2, SOX3, SOX9, STAT3, VIMENTIN, ZIC3, etc. |
Mobility | Mobile, invasive, metastasizes to many tissues | Mobile | Immobile, adhesive | Migratory. innervate most tissues |
Cell polarity | Loss of polarity upon tumor initiation | Loss of polarity | Polarized | Extensive morphological changes during neural development |
Cell cycle/proliferation | AURKA, CCND1, CCND2, CCNB1, CCNE1, CDC25A-C, CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDT1, E2F1, PCNA, etc | No | No | AURKA, CCND1, CCND2, CCNB1, CCNE1, CDC25A-C, CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDT1, E2F1, PCNA, etc |
Angiogenesis | FGFR1-4, etc | No | No | FGFR1-4, etc |
Chemo-resistance | ABCB1, ABCG2, IGF2, IGF2BP3, YAP1, etc | No | No | ABCB1, ABCG2, IGF2, IGF2BP3, YAP1, etc |
Stemness | MYC, POU5F1, SOX2, NESTIN, MSI1, etc | No | No | MYC, POU5F1, SOX2, NESTIN, MSI1, etc |
Dysregulated epigenetics | DNMT1, HDAC1, HDAC3, EZH2, LSD1, SETD1A, SETDB1, G9A, PRMT1, UTX, PRMT5, JMJD3, JMJD6, JHDM1A/B, WHSC1, etc | No | No | DNMT1, HDAC1, HDAC3, EZH2, LSD1, SETD1A, SETDB1, G9A, PRMT1, UTX, PRMT5, JMJD3, JMJD6, JHDM1A/B, WHSC1, etc |
Dysregulated metabolism | AKT, FUT4, GLUT1, KRAS, MTOR, MYC, OGT, PDK4, PFKP, PTK2, etc | No | No | AKT, FUT4, GLUT1, KRAS, MTOR, MYC, OGT, PDK4, PFKP, PTK2, etc |
Apoptosis evasion | BIRC5, HSPA9, MNT, etc. | No | No | BIRC5, HSPA9, MNT, etc |
Immuno-escape | STAT3 signaling, TGFβ signaling, WNT/CTNNB1 signaling, HIPPO/TAZ signaling, etc | No | No | STAT3 signaling, TGFβ signaling, WNT/CTNNB1 signaling, HIPPO/TAZ signaling, etc |