| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,880,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2008: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Recent evidence suggests that tumor cells possess stem cell features (cancer stem cells) to self-renew and give rise to relatively differentiated cells through asymmetric division, thereby forming heterogeneous populations. Cancer stem cells are considered to be resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which might be associated with the recurrence of the tumor after treatment. Oncostatin M (OSM) is a pleiotropic cytokine known to activate the hepatocytic differentiation program in hepatoblasts in an OSMR-specific manner. We identified that OSMR is expressed in a subset of liver cancer stem cells and OSM induces hepatocytic differentiation of these cells. OSM-mediated hepatocytic differentiation effectively suppressed HCC growth when combined with conventional chemotherapy, suggesting the utility of OSM for the treatment of liver cancer stem cells.
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