Numb-like (NumbL) downregulation increases tumorigenicity, cancer stem cell-like properties and resistance to chemotherapy.

ABSTRACT: NumbL, or Numb-like, is a close homologue of Numb, and is part of an evolutionary conserved protein family implicated in some important cellular processes. Numb is a protein involved in cell development, in cell adhesion and migration, in asymmetric cell division, and in targeting proteins for endocytosis and ubiquitination. NumbL exhibits some overlapping functions with Numb, but its role in tumorigenesis is not fully known. Here we showed that the downregulation of NumbL alone is sufficient to increase NICD nuclear translocation and induce Notch pathway activation. Furthermore, NumbL downregulation increases epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cell (CSC)-related gene transcripts and CSC-like phenotypes, including an increase in the CSC-like pool. These data suggest th

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Heredia JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5325389 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature