Unsaturated Fatty Acids Maintain Cancer Cell Stemness Abir Mukherjee, Hilary A. Kenny, Ernst Lengyel  Cell Stem Cell  Volume 20, Issue 3, Pages 291-292 (March 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.02.008 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Higher Unsaturated Lipid Profile of Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells Attributed to Increased SCD-1 Expression Changes in lipid profile are detected using stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy. Ovarian cancer cells grown as spheroids have a higher lipid content, especially unsaturated lipids, which scatter monochromatic light differently (left panel) as depicted in the energy level diagram. The authors use this method and show that ovarian cancer stem cells (CSCs) (ALDH+/CD133+) have increased lipid droplets. Growing ovarian CSCs and cell lines as spheroids increases their unsaturated lipid content, which activates NFκB activity, thereby increasing SCD-1 and ALDH1A1 expression. These proteins subsequently increase and maintain stemness of cancer cells, thus inducing a feedforward loop where unsaturated fatty acids increase SCD-1 via NFκB, leading to enhanced unsaturated fatty acid production. Cell Stem Cell 2017 20, 291-292DOI: (10.1016/j.stem.2017.02.008) Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions