Back to Search
Start Over
Identification and expansion of the tumorigenic lung cancer stem cell population.
- Source :
-
Cell death and differentiation [Cell Death Differ] 2008 Mar; Vol. 15 (3), pp. 504-14. Date of Electronic Publication: 2007 Nov 30. - Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Lung carcinoma is often incurable and remains the leading cancer killer in both men and women. Recent evidence indicates that tumors contain a small population of cancer stem cells that are responsible for tumor maintenance and spreading. The identification of the tumorigenic population that sustains lung cancer may contribute significantly to the development of effective therapies. Here, we found that the tumorigenic cells in small cell and non-small cell lung cancer are a rare population of undifferentiated cells expressing CD133, an antigen present in the cell membrane of normal and cancer-primitive cells of the hematopoietic, neural, endothelial and epithelial lineages. Lung cancer CD133(+) cells were able to grow indefinitely as tumor spheres in serum-free medium containing epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor. The injection of 10(4) lung cancer CD133(+) cells in immunocompromised mice readily generated tumor xenografts phenotypically identical to the original tumor. Upon differentiation, lung cancer CD133(+) cells acquired the specific lineage markers, while loosing the tumorigenic potential together with CD133 expression. Thus, lung cancer contains a rare population of CD133(+) cancer stem-like cells able to self-renew and generates an unlimited progeny of non-tumorigenic cells. Molecular and functional characterization of such a tumorigenic population may provide valuable information to be exploited in the clinical setting.
- Subjects :
- AC133 Antigen
Animals
Antigens, CD metabolism
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung metabolism
Carcinoma, Small Cell metabolism
Cell Differentiation
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
Female
Glycoproteins metabolism
Humans
Lung Neoplasms drug therapy
Lung Neoplasms metabolism
Mice
Mice, SCID
Neoplastic Stem Cells metabolism
Peptides metabolism
Phenotype
Tumor Cells, Cultured
Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung pathology
Carcinoma, Small Cell pathology
Lung Neoplasms pathology
Neoplastic Stem Cells pathology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1350-9047
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Cell death and differentiation
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 18049477
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cdd.4402283