Expression and function of Galectin-1 in CD133+ human pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression and function of Galectin-1 in CD133+ pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells. Methods CD133 + cells were separated by magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) from excised pulmonary adenocarcinoma speciments of 9 patiens. The proportion of CD133 + cells was measured by flow cytometry (FCM). The expression of Galectin-1 in CD133 + or CD133 - cells was quantitated by fluorescent quantitation real-time polymerase chain reaction (fqRT-PCR), Western blotting and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) respectively. CD133 + cells were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) of Galectin-1 to study the effect of Galectin-1 inhibition on cancer cells growth and clonality. Tumorigenesis in nude mice was also performed in vivo. Results 92.6% cells separated by MACS were positive for CD133, which was proved by FCM. The expression of Galectin-1 in CD133 + cells was 1. 748 folds and 1. 135 folds higher than that in CD133 - celts detected by fqRT-PCR and Western blot respectively. Downregulation of Galectin-1 ex vivo also resulted in (36. 75 ±: 1.35 ) % decrease of proliferation rate of cancer cells. Conclusion Galectin-1 which can be efficiently inhibited by Galectin-1 siRNA was significantly highly expressed in CD133 + cells and associated with the proliferation and clonality of CD133 + cells. Key words: Galectin; CD133; Pulmonary adenocarcinoma