研究人员发现,终末分化的非癌性人类干细胞在培养液中被重新程序化后显现出与癌症干细胞相关特征,在被注射进小鼠体内后促进了肿瘤的生长。这种新实验方法发表在8月在线出版的《自然—细胞生物学》期刊上,将来可用于某类肿瘤的研究。
实验证据显示,一种拥有特定分化特征的细胞部分促使了部分肿瘤癌的生长,这种细胞被称为癌症干细胞。在癌细胞生长过程中表达出的蛋白质显示某种特征,能诱导初始非肿瘤癌分化的人类细胞在肿瘤小鼠体内形成肿瘤。Paola Scaffidi和Tom Misteli发现,这种蛋白质的表达引导少量细胞子集形成具有自我更新特性的原始基态。当被注射到小鼠体内时,这些细胞具有生产含更多分化细胞类型的能力。这些特殊的细胞子集因此分享了癌症干细胞的特征,癌症干细胞能促使部分特定癌症的肿瘤生成。研究人员推测,这种体外实验体系可拓展应用到肿瘤的研究中。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1038/ncb2308
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In vitro generation of human cells with cancer stem cell properties
Paola Scaffidi; Tom Misteli
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been implicated in the maintenance and progression of several types of cancer. The origin and cellular properties of human CSCs are poorly characterized. Here we show that CSC-like cells can be generated in vitro by oncogenic reprogramming of human somatic cells during neoplastic transformation. We find that in vitro transformation confers stem-cell properties to primary differentiated fibroblasts, including the ability to self-renew and to differentiate along multiple lineages. Tumours induced by transformed fibroblasts are hierarchically organized, and the cells that act as CSCs to initiate and maintain tumour growth are marked by the stage-specific embryonic antigen SSEA-1. Heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells in the bulk of the tumour arise through differentiation of SSEA-1+ fibroblasts, and differentiation is associated with loss of tumorigenic potential. These findings establish an experimental system to characterize cellular and molecular properties of human CSCs and demonstrate that somatic cells have the potential to de-differentiate and acquire properties of CSCs.