The rBC2LCN-positive subpopulation of PC-3 cells exhibits cancer stem-like properties

The recombinant lectin rBC2LCN is a useful marker for discriminating the undifferentiated status of human induced or embryonic stem cells. Recently, rBC2LCN has also been used for detecting some cancers and niche cells. However, the generality of which types of cells are detected by rBC2LCN is uncle...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2019-07, Vol.515 (1), p.176-182
Main Authors: Mawaribuchi, Shuuji, Onuma, Yasuko, Aiki, Yasuhiko, Kuriyama, Yukiko, Mutoh, Michihiro, Fujii, Gen, Ito, Yuzuru
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer
Cancer stem-like cells
Lectin
PC-3 cells
rBC2LCN
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Summary:The recombinant lectin rBC2LCN is a useful marker for discriminating the undifferentiated status of human induced or embryonic stem cells. Recently, rBC2LCN has also been used for detecting some cancers and niche cells. However, the generality of which types of cells are detected by rBC2LCN is unclear. In this study, we demonstrated the potential of rBC2LCN as a probe for detecting and isolating cancer stem-like cells. Interestingly, flow cytometric analysis of various human cell lines indicated that the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3 consisted of rBC2LCN-positive and -negative subpopulations. Compared with the rBC2LCN-negative subpopulation, the rBC2LCN-positive subpopulation possessed representative features of cancer stem cells and malignancy, such as slow proliferation, increased cell motility, anchorage-independent growth, and drug resistance. The comprehensive expression profiles revealed that the rBC2LCN-positive subpopulation expressed higher levels of cancer stem cell markers. These findings indicate that rBC2LCN is useful for detecting not only pluripotent stem cells but also the cancer stem-like subpopulation of PC-3 cells. Pluripotent and cancer cells with rBC2LCN positivity would be important for future stem cell research. •PC-3 prostate cancer cells comprise rBC2LCN-positive and -negative subpopulations.•The rBC2LCN-positive PC-3 cells show cancer stem-like and malignant features.•The rBC2LCN-positive PC-3 cells highly express some cancer stem cell markers.•rBC2LCN would be useful for cancer stem-like cell research.
ISSN:0006-291X
1090-2104
DOI:10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.05.108