Many tumors contain heterogeneous populations of cells, only some of which exhibit increased tumorigenicity and resistance to anticancer therapies. Evidence suggests that these aggressive cancer cells, often termed "cancer stem cells" or "cancer stem-like cells" (CSCs), rely upon developmental signaling pathways that are important for survival and expansion of normal stem cells. Here we report ...

There is extensive evidence supporting the interference of inflammatory activation with metabolism. Obesity, mainly visceral obesity, is associated with a low-grade inflammatory state, triggered by metabolic surplus where specialized metabolic cells such as adipocytes activate cellular stress initiating and sustaining the inflammatory program. The increasing prevalence of obesity, resulting in ...

Peizhong Mao1, 2* 1Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA 2Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, OR, USA *Corresponding author: Peizhong Mao, Ph.D, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181...

It has long been appreciated that estrogenic signaling contributes to breast cancer progression. c-Src is also required for a number of processes involved in tumor progression and metastasis. We have previously identified the K303R mutant estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) that confers hypersensitivity to low levels of estrogen. Because ERalpha and c-Src have been shown to interact in a number o...