NO. 49

CIMR Wednesday Lecture Series

Time:

Wednesday, Nov. 20 2024, 4:00 p.m.

Location:

Yifu Lecture Hall, North Basic Research Building 

Host：

Guo-Min Li (李国民)

Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing

Speaker：

Hongtao Yu (于洪涛)

Chair Professor and Dean

School of Life Sciences

Westlake University

TITLE：

Aneuploidy and Cancer

ABSTRACT:

Aneuploidy is present in about 90% solid tumors. Recent evidence indicates that tumors remain addicted to aneuploidy. Paradoxically, artificially induced aneuploidy in normal cells elicits cellular stresses and decreases cell fitness. Using human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as a model, we have shown that aneuploid ESCs form immature teratomas with an enrichment of mesenchymal tissue. Specifically, chromosome 8 gain promotes the expansion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in teratomas and MSC proliferation in vitro. Human embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma tumors frequently gain chromosome 8, suggesting that aneuploidy might be a driver for this childhood cancer. Our study thus links specific aneuploidy to the mesenchymal lineage and paves the way for identifying vulnerabilities of aneuploid MSCs, which may have important roles in tumorigenesis.

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