| First Author | Nakanishi Y | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Nat Genet | Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 98-103 |
| PubMed ID | 23202126 | Mgi Jnum | J:193873 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5469803 | Doi | 10.1038/ng.2481 |
| Citation | Nakanishi Y, et al. (2013) Dclk1 distinguishes between tumor and normal stem cells in the intestine. Nat Genet 45(1):98-103 |
| abstractText | There is great interest in tumor stem cells (TSCs) as potential therapeutic targets; however, cancer therapies targeting TSCs are limited. A drawback is that TSC markers are often shared by normal stem cells (NSCs); thus, therapies that target these markers may cause severe injury to normal tissues. To identify a potential TSC-specific marker, we focused on doublecortin-like kinase 1 (Dclk1). Dclk1 was reported as a candidate NSC marker in the gut, but recent reports have implicated it as a marker of differentiated cells (for example, Tuft cells). Using lineage-tracing experiments, we show here that Dclk1 does not mark NSCs in the intestine but instead marks TSCs that continuously produce tumor progeny in the polyps of Apc(Min/+) mice. Specific ablation of Dclk1-positive TSCs resulted in a marked regression of polyps without apparent damage to the normal intestine. Our data suggest the potential for developing a therapy for colorectal cancer based on targeting Dclk1-positive TSCs. |
