SP analysis may be used to identify cancer stem cell populations

Side populations (SP), as defined by Hoechst exclusion in flow cytometry, have been described a few years ago. While they represent only a small fraction of the whole cell population, their properties confer an important place in several investigations. SP cells express high levels of various member...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental cell research 2006-11, Vol.312 (19), p.3701-3710
Main Authors: Hadnagy, Annamaria, Gaboury, Louis, Beaulieu, Raymond, Balicki, Danuta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
ATP-binding cassette transporters
ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters - metabolism
Breast Neoplasms - genetics
Breast Neoplasms - metabolism
Breast Neoplasms - pathology
Cancer
Cell Line, Tumor
Cell Separation
Cell Transformation, Neoplastic
Cellular biology
Drug resistance
Dye efflux
Female
Flow Cytometry
Gene Expression Profiling
Hoechst 33342
Humans
Medical treatment
Mice
Multidrug resistance
Neoplastic Stem Cells - classification
Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism
Neoplastic Stem Cells - pathology
Side populations
Stem cells
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Summary:Side populations (SP), as defined by Hoechst exclusion in flow cytometry, have been described a few years ago. While they represent only a small fraction of the whole cell population, their properties confer an important place in several investigations. SP cells express high levels of various members of ABC transporters family, such as MDR1 and BCRP, which are responsible for drug resistance. Targeting SP could improve cancer therapy by blocking these transporters. In addition, SP appear to be enriched in stem cells, cells that play a pivotal role in normal development and cancer biology. Thus, they could provide a useful tool and a readily accessible source for stem cell studies in both the normal and cancerous settings. However, these cells are poorly defined and pose challenges in their identification and isolation, particularly since they are few in number. Thus, better characterization of SP will advance our understanding of stem cells and will provide us an accessible target for drug resistance in cancer therapy.
ISSN:0014-4827
1090-2422
DOI:10.1016/j.yexcr.2006.08.030