Expression of Galectin-3 in CD133 + pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells induced CD8 + T cell apoptosis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression and function of Galectin-3 in CD133 + pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells.Methods CD133 + cells were separated by magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) from resected pulmonary adenocarcinoma specimens of 10 patiens.The proportion of CD133 +cells was measured by flow cytometry (FCM).The expression of Galectin-3 in CD133 + or CD133- cells was quantitated by fluorescent quantitation real time-polymerase chain reaction (fqRT-PCR) and Western blotting.We also investigated whether the supemants of CD133 + cells could mediate apoptosis of CD8 + T cells in vitro.Results 90％ cells separated by MACS were positive for CD133,which was proved by FCM.The expression of Galectin-3 was 1.24 folds and 1.5 folds higher in CD133 + cells than that in CD133 - cells detected by fqRT-PCR and Western blotting.The supernants of CD133 + cells more effectively induced apoptosis of CD8+ T cells with apoptosis rate being (27.1 ± 2.6) ％ than those of CD133 - cells with apoptosis rate being ( 10.1 ±2.2)％,which could be down-regulated by lactose and anti-CD133 monoclonal antibody.Conclusion Galectin-3 was highly expressed in CD133 + pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells,exerted strong biological activity,and could obviously mediate CD8 + T cell apoptosis in vitro. Key words: Galectin-3 ; CD133 ; Pulmonary adenocarcinoma; Apoptosis