Abstract
Abstract Our laboratory is interested in the growth, development and integrity of animal tissues, with a focus on stem cells. Wnt signaling is widely implicated in stem cell control, as a mechanism to regulate the number of stem cells in tissues, Using various cell labeling methods, we have described novel populations of stem cells in various tissues, including in the liver. In that tissue, we found that hepatocytes that reside in the pericentral domain of the liver demonstrate stem cell behavior. Although these cells are functional hepatocytes, they are diploid and thus differ from the mostly polyploid mature hepatocyte population. They are active in homeostatic cell replacement and therefore distinct from oval cells, which require injury for their induction. Adjacent central vein endothelial cells provide the essential source of Wnt signals for the hepatocyte stem cells and thereby constitute the liver stem cell niche. It is noteworthy that liver cancer is often characterized by loss of function mutations in negative components of the Wnt pathway, including Axin and APC. We suggest that pericentral hepatocyte stem cells, normally controlled by a paracrine Wnt signal, are precursors to liver cancer. Citation Format: Roel Nusse. Wnt signaling stem cell control and cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Developmental Biology and Cancer; Nov 30-Dec 3, 2015; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(4_Suppl):Abstract nr IA01.
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