Cell competition between anaplastic thyroid cancer and normal thyroid follicular cells exerts reciprocal stress response defining tumor suppressive effects of normal epithelial tissue.

ABSTRACT: The microenvironment of an early-stage tumor, in which a small number of cancer cells is surrounded by a normal counterpart milieu, plays a crucial role in determining the fate of initiated cells. Here, we examined cell competition between anaplastic thyroid cancer cells and normal thyroid follicular cells using co-culture method. Cancer cells were grown until they formed small clusters, to which normal cells were added to create high-density co-culture condition. We found that co-culture with normal cells significantly suppressed the growth of cancer cell clusters through the activation of Akt-Skp2 pathway. In turn, cancer cells triggered apoptosis in the neighboring normal cells through local activation of ERK1/2. A bi-directional cell competition provides a suppressive mechanism of anap

SUBMITTER: Amrenova A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8016217 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature