Perspective: Cooperation of Nanog, NF-κI', and CXCR4 in a regulatory network for directed migration of cancer stem cells

Directed cell migration is a crucial mobility phase of cancer stem cells having stemness and tumorigenic characteristics. It is known that CXCR4 plays key roles in the perception of chemotactic gradients throughout the directed migration of CSCs. There are a number of complex signaling pathways and transcription factors that coordinate with CXCR4/CXCL12 axis during directed migration. In this review, we focus on some transcription factors such as Nanog, NF-kappa B, and Bmi-1 that cooperate with CXCR4/CXCL12 for the maintenance of stemness and induction of metastasis behavior in cancer stem cells.