title: CD133 positive hepatocellular carcinoma cells possess high capacity for tumorigenicity.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shengyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Jinjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Mingxia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Haiyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Dafang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Shengli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shusen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jianren
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000378:metabolism; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D020297:Mice, Congenic; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006023:Glycoproteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C000606023:PROM1 protein, human; D010455:Peptides; C000606024:Prom1 protein, mouse