title: Constitutive secretion of Interleukin-4 dictates CD133+ side population cells to resist drug treatment and cell death.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the present study, we made an attempt to elucidate the role of oversecretion of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in cancer stem cells (CSCs) of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  HNSCC samples were analyzed for the presence of CSCs by flow cytometry. In addition, we have performed drug and apoptosis resistance assays to determine the role of IL-4 in CSCs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HNSCC samples contained 3.3% of CD133+ cancer stem like side population (SP) cells in HNSCC which displayed infinite cell proliferation and they had high self-renewal capacity. These CD133+ cells displayed enhanced expression of IL-4, which promoted multidrug and apoptosis resistance. After neutralizing IL-4, the CD133+ SP cells became more sensitive to drug treatment and apoptosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that the autocrine secretion of IL-4 is a potential target for the development of novel anticancer drugs to prevent the CSCs-mediated therapy failure and tumorigenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Fang
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Xu-Xia
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: De-Jun
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Duo-Jiao
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yan-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000502:physiology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000032:analysis*; D058985:Side-Population Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD; D006023:Glycoproteins; C508598:IL4 protein, human; C000606023:PROM1 protein, human; D010455:Peptides; D015847:Interleukin-4