Establishment of highly tumorigenic human colorectal cancer cell line (CR4) with properties of putative cancer stem cells.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has the third highest mortality rates among the US population. According to the most recent concept of carcinogenesis, human tumors are organized hierarchically, and the top of it is occupied by malignant stem cells (cancer stem cells, CSCs, or cancer-initiating cells, CICs), which possess unlimited self-renewal and tumor-initiating capacities and high resistance to conventional therapies. To reflect the complexity and diversity of human tumors and to provide clinically and physiologically relevant cancer models, large banks of characterized patient-derived low-passage cell lines, and especially CIC-enriched cell lines, are urgently needed.

New-generation taxoid SB-T-1214 inhibits stem cell-related gene expression in 3D cancer spheroids induced by purified colon tumor-initiating cells.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that the majority of tumors are organized hierarchically, comprising a population of tumor-initiating, or cancer stem cells (CSCs) responsible for tumor development, maintenance and resistance to drugs. Previously we have shown that the CD133high/CD44high fraction of colon cancer cells is different from their bulk counterparts at the functional, morphological and genomic levels. In contrast to the majority of colon cancer cells expressing moderate levels of CD133, CD44 and CD166, cells with a high combined expression of CD133 and CD44 possessed several characteristic stem cell features, including profound self-renewal capacity in vivo and in vitro, and the ability to give rise to different cell phenotypes.

Phenotypic subpopulations of metastatic colon cancer stem cells: genomic analysis.

Background: Human cancer is characterized by high heterogeneity in gene expression, varieties of differentiation phenotypes and tumor-host interrelations. Growing evidence suggests that tumor-initiating, or cancer stem cells (CSCs), may also represent a heterogeneous population. The present study was undertaken to isolate and characterize the different phenotypic subpopulations of metastatic colon cancer and to develop a working colon CSC model for obtaining highly tumorigenic and clonogenic cells in sufficient numbers.

Genomic analysis of prostate cancer stem cells isolated from a highly metastatic cell line.

Background: Tumor-initiating or cancer stem cells (CSCs) were recently isolated from all major human cancers, including prostate cancer. However, the extreme heterogeneity of tumor cells in terms of biological behavior and gene expression patterns and difficulties isolating a pure population of CSCs from tumor tissues significantly impede a comparative analysis of CSCs.

Materials And Methods: Different phenotypic populations were isolated from a metastatic derivative of PC-3 cell line, PC3-MM2, and tested for their ability to form tumors in NOD/SCID mice and floating spheroids in 3D culture systems.