Abstract
BackgroundSubpopulations of cancer cells with the capacity of generating solid tumors have been characterized. In various cancer types, including prostate cancer cells, a side population (SP) and CD133-expressing cells have been proposed as containing a population cancer cells with stem-like ability. Therefore the aim of this work was to determine, in prostate cancer cell lines, the frequency and tumorigenic potential of SP and CD133+ cells.ResultsIn vitro 2D colony-forming assay and sphere-forming assay, Flow cytometry analysis and magnetic cell sorting were utilized to sort CD133+, CD133- and Side population (SP) cells. Our findings indicate that CD44 and integrin α-6 are uniformly expressed in the hTERT cell lines; however, CD133 is expressed only in a small population (< 0.1%). FACS-sorted CD133+ and CD133- cells exhibited similar tumorigenicity in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, for the hTERT cells, SP rather than CD133 expression showed an 8-fold enhanced tumorigenic potential. The data suggest that SP cells, rather than those with CD133 marker, contain the rare population of CSC capable of producing prostate tumors.ConclusionCollectively, our data suggest that although CD133 is expressed only in a small population of hTERT-immortalized prostate cancer cells, it is not likely to be associated with stem cells, as CD133- and CD133+ cells exhibited similar tumorigenicity. However, SP isolated cells, appear to be enriched with tumorigenic stem-like cells capable of generating palpable tumors.
Highlights
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in men
This study focused on the “cancer stem cell hypothesis,” which indicates that primary tumors originate from a minor population of cells
The results indicate that, CD133 is expressed only in a small population (< 0.1%) in the hTERT cell lines, CD133+ and CD133- cells exhibited similar tumorigenicity in vitro and in vivo
Summary
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in men. The problem of treating prostate cancer is a result of the persistence of cancer-initiating progenitor/ stem cells that are found in low frequency. CD133 selection has been used to enrich a population of normal prostate epithelial cells capable of forming acinar-like structures as xenografts, and to derive a population of prostate cancer cells with a higher tumorigenic capacity in vitro than its negative counterpart [17]. Use of CD133+ expression for isolation of cancer-initiating progenitor or stem cells is organ-specific and, for prostate cancer, is not directly associated with a subpopulation capable of self-renewal and tumorigenicity [18]. The aim of this work was to determine, in prostate cancer cell lines, the frequency and tumorigenic potential of SP and CD133+ cells
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