@article{15fee86f4000442384185783bb7db36c,
title = "Blebbishields, the emergency program for cancer stem cells: Sphere formation and tumorigenesis after apoptosis",
abstract = "Caspases mediate apoptosis and have also been implicated in stem-cell biology. How caspases are linked to stem-cell biology is not known. Here, we show that the apoptotic blebs of cancer cells fuse together to form novel structures called 'blebbishields'. Blebbishields form spheres by fusion. Both blebbishield formation and sphere formation involve active caspases and N-linked glycosylation. Sphere formation is enhanced by acidic pH and is counteracted by inhibitors of proton pump, caspases, and cholesterol. The blebbishields from VEGFR2 High cells are capable of enhanced sphere formation. Blebbishields express transiently downregulated stem-cell markers and the sphere-forming blebbishield-derived cells are tumorigenic. Our study demonstrates that the cancer stem cells can survive after apoptosis by blebbishield formation and subsequent sphere formation.",
keywords = "VEGFR2, apoptosis, blebbishields, cancer stem cells, caspase, p70S6K",
author = "Jinesh, {G. G.} and W. Choi and Shah, {J. B.} and Lee, {E. K.} and Willis, {D. L.} and Kamat, {A. M.}",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. We sincerely thank Dr. David J McConkey for generously providing microarray data, cell lines, and for intellectual and editorial help with the manuscript, and Drs Bharat B. Aggarwal, Gomez-Manzano Candelaria, Felipe Samaniego, Isaiah J Fidler, Sun-Jin Kim, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Xiongbin Lu, Chun Li, Gordon B Mills, and Molina Jennifer for providing cell lines/reagents, Dr. Robert R Langley and Mr. Kenneth Dunner Jr. for helping with electron microscopy, Mr. Kunal Mandal and Ms. Karen Ramirez for helping in cell sorting, Dr. Aron Mobley, Dr. Neema Navai and Ms. I-Ling Lee for various helps, Ms. Deming Stephanie for editorial assistance with the manuscript. GJG was supported by MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Clayton Foundation for Research. This research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health through MD Anderson Cancer Center{\textquoteright}s Support Grant, CA016672.",
year = "2013",
doi = "10.1038/cdd.2012.140",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "20",
pages = "382--395",
journal = "Cell Death and Differentiation",
issn = "1350-9047",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "3",
}