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CD133 positive hepatocellular carcinoma cells possess high capacity for tumorigenicity
Author(s) -
Yin Shengyong,
Li Jinjun,
Hu Chen,
Chen Xinhua,
Yao Ming,
Yan Mingxia,
Jiang Guoping,
Ge Chao,
Xie Haiyang,
Wan Dafang,
Yang Shengli,
Zheng Shusen,
Gu Jianren
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.22476
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , cancer stem cell , cancer research , liver cancer , side population , stem cell , cancer , haematopoiesis , population , biology , carcinoma , pathology , cell , stem cell marker , cancer cell , cell culture , medicine , genetics , environmental health
Recently increasing reported data have suggested that only a small subset of cancer cells possess capability to initiate malignancies including leukemia and solid tumors, which was based on investigation in these cells displaying a distinct surface marker pattern within the primary cancers. CD133 is a putative hematopoietic and neuronal stem‐cell marker, which was also considered as a tumorigenic marker in brain and prostate cancer. We hypothesized that CD133 was a marker closely correlated with tumorigenicity, since it was reported that CD133 expressed in human fetal liver and repairing liver tissues, which tightly associated with hepatocarcinogenesis. Our findings showed that a small population of CD133 positive cells indeed exists in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and primary HCC tissues. From SMMC‐7721 cell line, CD133 + cells isolated by MACS manifested high tumorigenecity and clonogenicity as compared with CD133 − HCC cells. The implication that CD133 might be one of the markers for HCC cancer stem‐like cells needed further investigation. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.