The crucial role of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the pathology of malignant diseases has been extensively studied during the last decade. Nestin, a class VI intermediate filament protein, was originally detected in neural stem cells during development. Its expression has also been reported in different tissues under various pathological conditions. Specifically, nestin has been shown to be expressed in transformed cells of various human malignancies, and a correlation between its expression and the clinical course of some diseases has been proved. Furthermore, the coexpression of nestin with other stem cell markers was described as a CSC phenotype that was subsequently verified using tumorigenicity assays. The primary aim of this review is to summarize the recent findings regarding nestin expression in CSCs, its possible role in CSC phenotypes, particularly with respect to capacity for self-renewal, and its utility as a putative marker of CSCs.

• Keywords
• Cancer stem cells, cytoskeleton, intermediate filaments, nestin, tumor markers,
• MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Biomarkers, Tumor metabolism   MeSH
• Neoplastic Stem Cells metabolism   MeSH
• Neoplasms metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Nestin metabolism   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Biomarkers, Tumor MeSH
• NES protein, human MeSH Browser
• Nestin MeSH

Malignant melanoma (MM) urgently needs identification of new markers with better predictive value than currently-used clinical and histological parameters. Cancer cells stimulate the formation of a specialized tumor microenvironment, which reciprocally affects uncontrolled proliferation and migration. However, this microenvironment is heterogeneous with different sub-compartments defined by their access to oxygen and nutrients. This study evaluated microvascular density (MVD), CD3+ lymphocytes (TILs) and FOXP3+ T-regulatory lymphocytes (Tregs) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections using light microscopy. We analyzed 82 malignant melanomas, divided according to the AJCC TNM classification into four groups--pT1 (35), pT2 (17), pT3 (18) and pT4 (12)--and 25 benign pigmented nevi. All parameters were measured in both the central areas of tumors (C) and at their periphery (P). A marked increase in all parameters was found in melanomas compared to nevi (p = 0.0001). There was a positive correlation between MVD, TILs, FOXP3+ Tregs and the vertical growth phase. The results show that MVD, TILs and FOXP3+ Tregs substantially influence cutaneous melanoma microenvironment. We found significant topographic differences of the parameters between central areas of tumors and their boundaries.

• MeSH
• Thy-1 Antigens metabolism   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Forkhead Transcription Factors metabolism   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Melanoma, Cutaneous Malignant MeSH
• Melanoma blood supply   immunology   pathology   MeSH
• Microvessels metabolism   physiopathology   MeSH
• Skin Neoplasms blood supply   immunology   pathology   MeSH
• Neovascularization, Pathologic immunology   pathology   MeSH
• T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory immunology   metabolism   MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating immunology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Thy-1 Antigens MeSH
• Forkhead Transcription Factors MeSH
• FOXP3 protein, human MeSH Browser