Isolation and characterization of normal hamster buccal pouch stem/stromal cells--a potential oral cancer stem/stem-like cell model.

The hamster buccal pouch (HBP) is an appropriate experimental model for buccal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Our objective was to isolate and characterize the stem/stromal cells from normal HBP. HBP stem/stromal cells were successfully derived from three of five normal pouch tissues, which differentiated into adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages, and also expressed stem cell and differentiation markers, indicating their stem cell origin and differentiation capability. These cells showed high expression of CD29, CD90, and CD105, markers specific for bone marrow stem cells, and exhibited very low expression of CD14, CD34, and CD45, markers specific for hematopoietic cells. Of the HBP stem/stromal cells isolated, 90% stained positively for cytoplasmic keratin, whereas 10% stained positively for vimentin. In conclusion, normal HBP stem/stromal cells provide a potential avenue for future experimental trials of cancer stem/stem-like cells for treatment of buccal SCC. In vitro, we may detect the sequential changes of normal HBP stem/stromal cells during multistep oral carcinogenesis or the alternations of these cells upon irradiation treatment and/or chemotherapy.