Abstract
Glioblastoma is composed of dividing tumor cells, stromal cells and tumor initiating CD133+ cells. Recent reports have discussed the origin of the glioblastoma CD133+ cells and their function in the tumor microenvironment. The present work sought to investigate the multipotent and mesenchymal properties of primary highly purified human CD133+ glioblastoma-initiating cells. To accomplish this aim, we used the following approaches: i) generation of tumor subspheres of CD133+ selected cells from primary cell cultures of glioblastoma; ii) analysis of the expression of pluripotency stem cell markers and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) markers in the CD133+ glioblastoma-initiating cells; iii) side-by-side ultrastructural characterization of the CD133+ glioblastoma cells, MSC and CD133+ hematopoietic stem cells isolated from human umbilical cord blood (UCB); iv) assessment of adipogenic differentiation of CD133+ glioblastoma cells to test their MSC-like in vitro differentiation ability; and v) use of an orthotopic glioblastoma xenograft model in the absence of immune suppression. We found that the CD133+ glioblastoma cells expressed both the pluripotency stem cell markers (Nanog, Mush-1 and SSEA-3) and MSC markers. In addition, the CD133+ cells were able to differentiate into adipocyte-like cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that the CD133+ glioblastoma-initiating cells had ultrastructural features similar to those of undifferentiated MSCs. In addition, when administered in vivo to non-immunocompromised animals, the CD133+ cells were also able to mimic the phenotype of the original patient's tumor. In summary, we showed that the CD133+ glioblastoma cells express molecular signatures of MSCs, neural stem cells and pluripotent stem cells, thus possibly enabling differentiation into both neural and mesodermal cell types.
Highlights
Glioblastoma has a polyclonal nature and is composed of dividing tumor cells, tumor initiating cells and stromal cells [1, 2]
Glioblastoma neurospheres selected by using a CD133+ affinity column showed a higher content of CD133 positive cells (78%) (Figure 1B)
The present work demonstrated the mesenchymal stem cell-like properties of CD133+ glioblastomainitiating cells by examining the pluripotency, stemness characteristics and differentiation potential of CD133+ glioblastoma cells
Summary
Glioblastoma has a polyclonal nature and is composed of dividing tumor cells, tumor initiating cells and stromal cells [1, 2]. Glioblastoma initiating cells, called cancer stem cells (CSCs), are characterized as a CD133+ cell population within a tumor that possess the abilities to self-renew, generate neurospheres in vitro and reproduce the original tumor when administered in vivo to immunocompromised animals [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Recent reports have discussed the origin of the glioblastoma CD133+ cells and their functions in the tumor microenvironment [11, 12, 13, 14]. The grade of the malignancy of glioblastoma and the efficiency of neurosphere formation increases according the expression level of Mush-1 [16]
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