National Cancer Center Research Institute

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Genetics

Semi-quantitative Detection of RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase Activity of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Protein

Yoshiko Maida^*1, Mami Yasukawa^*1, Marco Ghilotti¹, Yoshinari Ando¹, Kenkichi Masutomi¹

¹Division of Cancer Stem Cell, National Cancer Center Research Institute

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) synthesizes not only telomeric DNA but also double-stranded RNA through RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity. Here, we describe a newly established assay to detect RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity of endogenous TERT.

Biology

Evaluating the Angiogenetic Properties of Ovarian Cancer Stem-Like Cells using the Three-Dimensional Co-Culture System, NICO-1

Yuko Miyagawa¹, Kazunori Nagasaka¹, Kaoru Yamawaki^2,3, Yutaro Mori^2,3, Tatsuya Ishiguro², Kei Hashimoto¹, Ryoko Koike¹, Siho Fukui¹, Takeru Sugihara¹, Takayuki Ichinose¹, Haruko Hiraike¹, Koichiro Kido¹, Koji Okamoto³, Takayuki Enomoto², Takuya Ayabe¹

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, ²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, ³Devision of Cancer Differentiation, National Cancer Center Research Institute

Ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC) are responsible for cancer initiation, recurrence, therapeutic resistance, and metastasis. The OCSC vascular niche is considered to promote self-renewal of OCSCs, leading to chemoresistance. This protocol provides the basis for establishing a reproducible OCSC vascular niche model in vitro.