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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Hematologic Malignancies

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1596928

Nestin in multiple myeloma: emerging insights into a potential therapeutic target

Provisionally accepted
Yingmiao WuYingmiao Wu1Ji LuoJi Luo1Yue ZhouYue Zhou1Jiaoya LinJiaoya Lin2Yajie WuYajie Wu1Shuai ZhengShuai Zheng1Huang GuoHuang Guo2Feifei CheFeifei Che2Qiang WangQiang Wang3*Ling ZhongLing Zhong2*
  • 1School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
  • 3Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, United States

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Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological malignancy and remains incurable, with high rates of relapses and refractory. One of the root causes is the presence of multiple myeloma stem cells (MMSCs). The deficiency of MMSC treatment lies in the lack of specific targets. CD19, CD138, CD27, and ALDH have been regarded as markers for MMSCs; however, none of them can reliably identify MMSCs. Therefore, identifying unique markers of MMSCs is crucial. Nestin, a class-VI intermediate filament protein, was originally described as a marker of neuroepithelial stem/progenitor cells. Recently, nestin has been reported to be a useful marker and therapeutic target of cancer stem cell (CSC) in solid tumors, reflecting its importance in drug resistance and poor prognosis. Although nestin has been reported to be associated with poor prognosis in MM, its biological role in MM has not yet been thoroughly explored. This review summarizes the latest research progress of nestin in MM, including the characteristics of nestin, its role in CSCs across different cancers, the current status and cutting-edge detection technologies of MMSC, involved signaling pathways and clinical relevance in MM. It emphasizes that nestin is a more specific and effective potential therapeutic target for MMSC.

Keywords: nestin, Multiple Myeloma, Multiple myeloma stem cells, cancer stem cells, Therapeutic target

Received: 20 Mar 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Luo, Zhou, Lin, Wu, Zheng, Guo, Che, Wang and Zhong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Qiang Wang, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, 77030, Texas, United States
Ling Zhong, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material