An inhibitor of K+ channels modulates human endometrial tumor-initiating cells

Many potassium ion (K+) channels function as oncogenes to sustain growth of solid tumors, but their role in cancer progression is not well understood. Emerging evidence suggests that the early progenitor cancer cell subpopulation, termed tumor initiating cells (TIC), are critical to cancer progressi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancer cell international 2011-08, Vol.11 (1), p.25-25, Article 25
Main Authors: Schickling, Brandon M, Aykin-Burns, Nukhet, Leslie, Kimberly K, Spitz, Douglas R, Korovkina, Victoria P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer
cancer stem cells
Cancer therapies
Cell division
Colleges & universities
Endometrial cancer
Experiments
Free radicals
Medical research
potassium channels
Primary Research
Proteins
tumor initiating cells
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Summary:Many potassium ion (K+) channels function as oncogenes to sustain growth of solid tumors, but their role in cancer progression is not well understood. Emerging evidence suggests that the early progenitor cancer cell subpopulation, termed tumor initiating cells (TIC), are critical to cancer progression. A non-selective antagonist of multiple types of K+ channels, tetraethylammonium (TEA), was found to suppress colony formation in endometrial cancer cells via inhibition of putative TIC. The data also indicated that withdrawal of TEA results in a significant enhancement of tumorigenesis. When the TIC-enriched subpopulation was isolated from the endometrial cancer cells, TEA was also found to inhibit growth in vitro. These studies suggest that the activity of potassium channels significantly contributes to the progression of endometrial tumors, and the antagonists of potassium channels are candidate anti-cancer drugs to specifically target tumor initiating cells in endometrial cancer therapy.
ISSN:1475-2867
1475-2867
DOI:10.1186/1475-2867-11-25