Remnant living cells that escape cell loss in late-stage tumors exhibit cancer stem cell-like characteristics

Y. L. Chen, S. Y. Wang, R. S. Liu, H. E. Wang, J. C. Chen, S. H. Chiou, C. A. Chang, L. T. Lin, D. T.W. Tan, Y. J. Lee*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

A balance between cell proliferation and cell loss is essential for tumor progression. Although up to 90% of cells are lost in late-stage carcinomas, the progression and characteristics of remnant living cells in tumor mass are unclear. Here we used molecular imaging to track the progression of living cells in a syngeneic tumor model, and ex vivo investigated the properties of this population at late-stage tumor. The piggyBac transposon system was used to stably introduce the dual reporter genes, including monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP) and herpes simplex virus type-1 thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) genes for fluorescencebased and radionuclide-based imaging of tumor growth in small animals, respectively. Iodine-123-labeled 5-iodo-2′-fluoro-1-beta-D- arabinofuranosyluracil was used as a radiotracer for HSV1-tk gene expression in tumors. The fluorescence- and radionuclide-based imaging using the single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography revealed that the number of living cells reached the maximum at 1 week after implantation of 4T1 tumors, and gradually decreased and clustered near the side of the body until 4 weeks accompanied by enlargement of tumor mass. The remnant living cells at late-stage tumor were isolated and investigated ex vivo. The results showed that these living cells could form mammospheres and express cancer stem cell (CSC)-related biomarkers, including octamer-binding transcription factor 4, SRY (sex-determining region Y)-box 2, and CD133 genes compared with those cultured in vitro. Furthermore, this HSV1-tk-expressing CSC-like population was sensitive to ganciclovir applied for the suicide therapy. Taken together, the current data suggested that cells escaping from cell loss in latestage tumors exhibit CSC-like characteristics, and HSV1-tk may be considered a theranostic agent for targeting this population in vivo.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere399
JournalCell Death and Disease
Volume3
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2012

Keywords

  • Cancer stem cells
  • Cell-loss factor
  • PiggyBac transposon system
  • Remnant living cells
  • Reporter-gene imaging
  • Syngeneic tumor model

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