Do nucleoside drugs induce cellular differentiation by caspase-dependent degradation of stem cell factors?
We show that drug-induced differentiation is not a consequence of pharmacologic epigenetic modulation, but is induced by the degradation of stem-cell-specific proteins by caspases. Our results thus uncover a novel pathway that induces differentiation of embryonic cancer stem cells and is triggered by the established anticancer drugs cytarabine and decitabine. These findings suggest new approaches for directly targeting the stem cell fraction of human tumours.
Liver focal fatty changes at ultrasound (steatosis) after islet transplantation in IAK and ITA patients may represent an early sign of altered graft function.