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Annotated Bibliography

Could a Better Understanding of Stem Cells Help Eliminate Cancer?

Meghan Osler

Professor Malcolm Campbell

English 1103

10/18/12

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Annotated Bibliography

Bissell, Mina. “Experiments that Point to a New Understanding of Cancer.” TEDGlobal. 2012.

Web. 15 Oct. 2012. The speaker begins her talk by showing a cartoon and relating it to

how she views her field of research. She then starts to explain some basic concepts in

developmental biology, particularly that each cell in your body came from a single cell

and that every cell currently in your body has the same genetic information. She presents

the dominant cancer theory which is widely accepted by most scientists. The speaker then

refutes this theory and gives her own. Through many observations and experiments she

has decided that cancer formation is primarily reliant on context and architecture. She

explains that the microenvironment which surrounds cells actually moderates and

controls cancer genes. The speaker talks about her research in breast cancer and how that

led to the development of her theory. When breast cells are inside of the breast held

together by their surrounding tissues they remain organized and functioning. After the

speaker removes them from the environment and places them in a dish they seem to

forget how to function and organize themselves. She then decided that the cellular

scaffolding called the extracellular matrix must be sending chemical signals to the inner

cells. She created several experiments which would end up proving her hypothesis. She

then comes to the conclusion that restoring context and architecture to cancer cells should

reorganize them. The speaker conducted experiments which prove this more radical

hypothesis to be true as well. She concludes by talking about some of the students and

researchers she works with and how much she has learned from them. The speaker says

the future of her field of study comes with understanding the structure and organization

of cells. This lecture was entertaining, informative and inspiring. Mina Bissell is a true

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pioneer in her field and has made many wonderful discoveries. Though her lecture is

geared toward an audience of mostly teachers and professors, anyone with a moderate

science background can understand it. She is a reliable source for information on this

topic. Her lecture identifies many overlying concepts but I will have to find other sources

for more detailed information. I picked this source because it gives and alternate

explanation to the origins of cancer. Cancer stem cells could be linked to her ideas and I

may try to combine them in my essay. This lecture has given me a lot to think about and

makes me want to know more about her theories. When I’m writing my essay I will use

this video and will also try to find more information about her and the work that she has

done.

Liu, Suling Korkaya, Hasan Wicha, Max S. "Are Cancer Stem Cells Ready For Prime

Time?" Scientist 26.4 (2012): 32. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

This article examines cancer stem cells (CSC) and their role in the development and

metastasis of cancer. The authors introduces the subject by observing that the scientific

community has known about cancer stem cells for many years but there is still much

confusion about their origin and development. Some say they arise from mutated stem

cells while other scientists think they come from partially differentiated tissue-progenitor

cells. Currently evidence exists to support both theories. CSCs were once thought to be

rare but further examination of various types of cancers show that the percentage of CSCs

varies based on the type of cancer. Cancers that form solid tumors, such as breast cancer,

show some of the highest CSC populations. The authors explain that epithelial-to-

mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer is why cancer can travel to various parts of the

body. Researchers have seen EMT happen when cancer cells develop a CSC phenotype.

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Inflammation and hypoxic tumor microenvironments trigger EMT responses in cancer

cells. Once the cancer cells travel to a new portion of the body chemical signals instigate

cell replication causing a new tumor to grow. The authors suggest that EMT cells are able

to revert to being mesenchymal-to-epithelial (MET) cells which produce the bulk of the

tumor. Since cancer growth is caused by an inflammatory response in the body,

treatments which directly damage the tumor such as chemotherapy and radiation only

aggravate CSC self-renewal and tumor growth. The author claims that these new

discoveries will cause doctors and scientists to find new and unique cancer treatments

which are directed toward CSCs themselves and not just the bulk of the tumor. The

authors of this article in Scientist magazine all work at the University of Michigan’s

Comprehensive Cancer Center. They are all reputable scientists who have personally

done research with CSCs. Citations are provided at the bottom of the article which directs

you to other information obtained by the authors of this article. The article seems like it

was targeted toward a well informed and science minded audience. It reads like

something that could be found in a college textbook and can be difficult to understand at

times. The authors are obviously well informed on the topic and have done plenty of

research before writing it. The diagrams in the article are very helpful and visually

represent some of the more difficult ideas that were presented. I will be using this article

to further my knowledge of CSCs so I can complete my paper. This article first

introduced me to cancer stem cell theory and I am still trying to understand the basic

concepts. I will also be looking at some of the citations found at the end of the article for

further information.

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Nayak, Arabinda. "Involvement of Stem Cell in Cancers." Journal of Pharmacy Research 4.10

(2011): 3295-3299. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. The article begins

by defining cancer as an uncontrolled growth that invades surrounding tissues and has the

ability to metastasis to other locations in the body. The causes of cancer are typically

divided into two groups: Those with environmental causes and those that arise because of

genetic factors. The article goes on to explain the various methods of treating cancer such

as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. These treatments are only partially effective and

can damage surrounding tissues and organs. They are also most effective when the

tumors have not spread to multiple locations. Researchers are now trying to figure out

how cancer cells which cause tumor formation can replicate into identical daughter cells

without dying as well as having the ability to differentiate into various cell types. These

are the same characteristics held by stem cells and this evidence ignited the formation of

the cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis. The author explains that current animal models

only show the effects of cancer treatments on differentiated cells which form the bulk

tumors and not the CSC populations. Treatments like chemotherapy which attacks these

bulk tumors would not be helpful in destroying resistant CSC populations. Many CSC

have genes which give them resistance to chemotherapy and other cancer drugs. The

author explains that one of the major questions within the CSC hypothesis pertains to

how CSCs form in the first place. They can arise from existing stem cells, progenitor

(partially differentiated) cells, or could come from differentiated cells that found a way to

de-differentiate. Finally, the author explains why CSCs support the metastasis of cancer

cells and their ability to form new tumors in new locations. The author concludes by

stating that stem cells are useful in many areas of scientific and medical research such as

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studying disease and testing new medications. This scholarly article published by the

Journal of Pharmacy Research is a credible and primary source. The fact that it was

written in 2011 means it is relevant to most new developments in this field of study. Even

though the author writes this for other academic scholars in his field, he still takes the

time to define important terms and ideas, making it more accessible to someone with less

knowledge of the subject. I will be referencing this article in my paper because it not

only presents the basics of CSC theory, but it also explains the mechanisms behind the

formation of cancer and some current treatments. I can use this to help compare current

treatments to those proposed by CSC theory.

"Stem Cell Basics." Stem Cell Information. The National Institutes of Health, 28 Apr. 2009.

Web. 15 Oct. 2012. This informational government website gives an essential overview

of stem cell properties, types, and functions. It begins by defining stem cells as

unspecialized cells which can renew themselves through cell division and specialize to

become specific tissues. The two main types of stem cells are embryonic and somatic.

The website then talks about a more recently discovered type of stem cell induced

pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) which are differentiated cells that are genetically

reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. It then goes into depth about the

unique properties which stem cells possess. Embryonic stem cells can self-renew for

extended periods of time both in the body and in a laboratory setting, unlike non-

embryonic stem cells. They also have the ability to differentiate into specialized cells,

tissues, and organs. Differentiation of embryonic stem cells occurs through a complicated

process of genetic cues and chemical signaling. Two separate sections of the article are

devoted to explaining the difference between embryonic and somatic stem cells.

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Embryonic stem cells are found in embryos while somatic stem cells are found living in

the adult body among undifferentiated tissue. This website compares and contrasts

embryonic and somatic stem cells and the potentials both have for scientific and medical

research. The website then devotes another section to iPSCs. Because they are a recent

discovery, less is known about iPSCs than other stem cell types and scientists are not sure

if they are clinically different from embryonic stem cells. The website goes on to discuss

the clinical importance of stem cells. Stem cells could be used to test drugs and

experimental treatments. The website cites a study done in mice that had ventricular

damage in their hearts. The verticals were injected with somatic stem cells and the stem

cells regenerated some of the dead heart tissue. Stem cells could be practically applied to

dozens of diseases including Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. The website closes

by giving links to several reputable links to websites where you can get more information

about stem cells and current stem cell research. This section of the National Institutes of

Health’s website is very well written and easy to understand. It is written for a general

adult audience who is curious about stem cells. Various vocabulary words are highlighted

and can be clicked for definitions to aid in understanding confusing concepts. Each

section is well organized and flows cleanly from one idea to the next. After defining

larger topics it breaks them down into smaller sections and gives more detailed

descriptions and examples of those ideas. After reading this I feel like I have a solid

understanding of basic stem cell theory and research methods. I will be using this website

to explain what stem cells are and how they work when I write my inquiry paper. I will

also look into some of the links provided on the website for specific examples of current

stem cell research. I will also further make use of other resources on NIH’s website.

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Comments:

Bissell Source

-Drop first line of annotation

-Mention name of speaker

-Start a new paragraph with ‘This lecture’

-Mentioned how you will use the source

-Mentioned author’s credibility

-Mentioned intended audience

Liu Source

-Discussed author’s credibility

-Mentioned how you will use the source

-At beginning ‘The Authors Introduces,’ easy fix

-You do a great job of showing you read the material. You broke it down really well, I have a

hard time understanding science but you made it a lot easier for me to follow!

Nayak Source

-Drop first line of annotation

-Mention author’s name and credentials

-Great job explaining how you will use the source and I really like that you mentioned the date

the article was written and why that’s important. I didn’t even think about doing that!

-Maybe break source into a couple of paragraphs

Stem Source

-Drop first line of annotation

-Good job defining terms

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-I like that you talked about how it’s relevant to modern studies

-Mentioned how it relates to topic, check!

-Mentioned how you will you use it, check!

-Very interesting annotation, probably my favorite.

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All required sources? Check!

Sources in alphabetical order? Check!

It’s obvious you are passionate about this topic and put much thought into your annotations. I

can’t wait to read your paper! I really don’t understand much at all about science but you’ve

done a great job of breaking it down without supplying a water-downed version. Keep it up!

-Olivia Bjerkeset