Han Ji Seung, Crowe David L
University of Illinois Cancer Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Int J Oncol. 2009 May;34(5):1449-53.
Breast cancer is composed of heterogeneous cell populations with different biological properties. The capacity to form tumors resides in a small group of cells termed tumor initiating cells or cancer stem cells. Tumor initiating cells have been identified in a variety of cancers by sorting of subpopulations based on cell surface markers and transplantation into animal models. Tumor initiating cells have the important feature of self renewal, which is a property in common with stem cells. We examined established breast cancer lines for cells with tumor initiating properties. A dye efflux side population in MCF7 and T47D lines expressed markers of breast cancer stem cells. The side population represents a distinct morphologic and functional subpopulation within the human breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and T47D. The side population from human breast cancer cell lines was able to initiate tumors in vivo. The side population cells from human breast cancer cell lines were more resistant to ionizing radiation than the non-side population. We concluded that tumor initiating cells exist in established human breast cancer cell lines.
乳腺癌由具有不同生物学特性的异质性细胞群体组成。形成肿瘤的能力存在于一小群被称为肿瘤起始细胞或癌症干细胞的细胞中。通过基于细胞表面标志物对亚群进行分选并移植到动物模型中，已在多种癌症中鉴定出肿瘤起始细胞。肿瘤起始细胞具有自我更新的重要特征，这是与干细胞共有的特性。我们检查了已建立的乳腺癌细胞系中具有肿瘤起始特性的细胞。MCF7和T47D细胞系中的染料外排侧群表达了乳腺癌干细胞的标志物。侧群代表了人乳腺癌细胞系MCF7和T47D内一个独特的形态学和功能亚群。人乳腺癌细胞系的侧群能够在体内引发肿瘤。人乳腺癌细胞系的侧群细胞比非侧群细胞对电离辐射更具抗性。我们得出结论，在已建立的人乳腺癌细胞系中存在肿瘤起始细胞。
