Emerging evidence has suggested that the capability of a tumor to grow and propagate is dependent on a small subset of cells within a tumor, termed cancer stem cells. Although data have been provided to support this theory in human blood, brain, and breast cancers, the identity of pancreatic cancer stem cells has not been determined. Using a xenograft model in which primary human pancreatic adenocarcinomas were grown in immunocompromised mice, we identified a highly tumorigenic subpopulation of pancreatic cancer cells expressing the cell surface markers CD44, CD24, and epithelial-specific antigen (ESA). Pancreatic cancer cells with the CD44⁺CD24⁺ESA⁺ phenotype (0.2–0.8% of pancreatic cancer cells) had a 100-fold increased tumorigenic potential compared with nontumorigenic cancer cells, with 50% of animals injected with as few as 100 CD44⁺CD24⁺ESA⁺ cells forming tumors that were histologically indistinguishable from the human tumors from which they originated. The enhanced ability of CD44⁺CD24⁺ESA⁺ pancreatic cancer cells to form tumors was confirmed in an orthotopic pancreatic tail injection model. The CD44⁺CD24⁺ESA⁺ pancreatic cancer cells showed the stem cell properties of self-renewal, the ability to produce differentiated progeny, and increased expression of the developmental signaling molecule sonic hedgehog. Identification of pancreatic cancer stem cells and further elucidation of the signaling pathways that regulate their growth and survival may provide novel therapeutic approaches to treat pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously resistant to standard chemotherapy and radiation. [Cancer Res 2007;67(3):1030–7]

High salt is positively associated with the risk of many diseases. However, little is known about the mechanisms. Here we showed that high salt increased proinflammatory molecules, while decreased anti-inflammatory and proendocytic molecules in both human and mouse macrophages. High salt also potentiated lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophage activation and suppressed interleukin 4-induced macrophage activation. High salt induced the proinflammatory aspects by activating p38/cFos and/or Erk1/2/cFos pathways, while inhibited the anti-inflammatory and proendocytic aspects by Erk1/2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 pathway. Consistent with the in vitro results, high-salt diet increased proinflammatory gene expression of mouse alveolar macrophages. In mouse models of acute lung injury, high-salt diet aggravated lipopolysaccharide-induced pulmonary macrophage activation and inflammation in lungs. These results identify a novel macrophage activation state, M(Na), and high salt as a potential environmental risk factor for lung inflammation through the induction of M(Na).

Barrett’s oesophagus—a metaplasia that can be induced by persistent acid reflux, and predisposes patients to oesophageal cancer—arises from a population of basal cells at the gastro-oesophageal junction. Barrett's metaplasia occurs at the gastro-oesophageal junction, sometimes as a result of persistent acid reflux, and predisposes patients to oesophageal cancer. There has been some debate over which cells generate Barrett's oesophagus. Jianwen Que and colleagues now identify a population of basal cells at the gastro-oesophageal junction that give rise to Barrett's metaplasia in mice. Data from human samples suggest the same population of cells gives rise to Barrett's metaplasia in humans. In several organ systems, the transitional zone between different types of epithelium is a hotspot for pre-neoplastic metaplasia and malignancy1,2,3, but the cells of origin for these metaplastic epithelia and subsequent malignancies remain unknown1,2,3. In the case of Barrett’s oesophagus, intestinal metaplasia occurs at the gastro-oesophageal junction, where stratified squamous epithelium transitions into simple columnar cells4. On the basis of a number of experimental models, several alternative cell types have been proposed as the source of this metaplasia but in all cases the evidence is inconclusive: no model completely mimics Barrett’s oesophagus in terms of the presence of intestinal goblet cells5,6,7,8. Here we describe a transitional columnar epithelium with distinct basal progenitor cells (p63+KRT5+KRT7+) at the squamous–columnar junction of the upper gastrointestinal tract in a mouse model. We use multiple models and lineage tracing strategies to show that this squamous–columnar junction basal cell population serves as a source of progenitors for the transitional epithelium. On ectopic expression of CDX2, these transitional basal progenitors differentiate into intestinal-like epithelium (including goblet cells) and thereby reproduce Barrett’s metaplasia. A similar transitional columnar epithelium is present at the transitional zones of other mouse tissues (including the anorectal junction) as well as in the gastro-oesophageal junction in the human gut. Acid reflux-induced oesophagitis and the multilayered epithelium (believed to be a precursor of Barrett’s oesophagus) are both characterized by the expansion of the transitional basal progenitor cells. Our findings reveal a previously unidentified transitional zone in the epithelium of the upper gastrointestinal tract and provide evidence that the p63+KRT5+KRT7+ basal cells in this zone are the cells of origin for multi-layered epithelium and Barrett’s oesophagus.