Summary
Mounting evidence has shown that side population (SP) cells are enriched for cancer stem cells (CSCs) responsible for cancer malignancy. In this study, SP technology was used to isolate a small subpopulation of SP cells in human gallbladder cancer cell line GBC-SD, and SP cells which had superior potential for proliferation in vitro and tumorigenesis in vivo were identified. Importantly, the abundance of GBC-SD SP cells was increased by a transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and this effect was accompanied with a strong up-regulation of ABCG2 mRNA expression, and a decreased sensitivity to mitoxantrone. SP cells were restored upon the removal of TGF-β and the reversion of the cells to an epithelial phenotype, and smad3-specific siRNA reduced SP abundance in response to TGF-β. In conclusion, TGF-β-induced EMT by smad-dependent signaling pathway promotes cancer development and anti-cancer drug resistant phenotype by augmenting the abundance of GBC-SD SP cells, and a better understanding of mechanisms involved in TGF-β-induced EMT may provide a novel strategy for preventing cancer progression.
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The authors contributed equally to this work.
This project was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30772127).
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Zhang, Z., Zhu, F., Xiao, L. et al. Side population cells in human gallbladder cancer cell line GBC-SD regulated by TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 31, 749–755 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-011-0671-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-011-0671-1