cancers Review Cripto-1 as a Potential Target of Cancer Stem Cells for Immunotherapy Hiroko Ishii 1 , Said M. Afify 2,3 , Ghmkin Hassan 2 , David S. Salomon 4 and Masaharu Seno 2,* 1 GSP Enterprise, Inc., 1-4-38 12F Minato-machi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka 556-0017, Japan;
[email protected] 2 Laboratory of Nano-Biotechnology, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan; saidafi
[email protected] (S.M.A.);
[email protected] (G.H.) 3 Division of Biochemistry, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin ElKoum Menoufia 32511, Egypt 4 Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +81-86-251-8216 Simple Summary: Cancer immunotherapy is gaining attention as a potential fourth treatment following surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Cancer stem cells have recently been recognized and validated as a key target for cancer treatment. Cripto-1, which is a GPI-anchored membrane-bound protein that functions as a co-receptor of Nodal, is a marker of cancer stem cells. Since Nodal is a member of the TGF-β family, which performs an important role in stem cells and cancer stem cells, the inhibition of Cripto-1 could be a strategy by which to block Nodal signaling and thereby suppress cancer stem cells. We propose that Cripto-1 may be a novel target for cancer immunotherapy. Citation: Ishii, H.; Afify, S.M.; Hassan, G.; Salomon, D.S.; Seno, M.