A Validation Study of CD133 as a Reliable Marker for Identification of Colorectal Cancer Stem-Like Cells

• Published in: Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine Vol. 176; no. 3; pp. 369 - 375
• Main Authors: You, C. Z., Xu, H., Zhao, F. S., Dou, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: AC133 Antigen - genetics; AC133 Antigen - metabolism; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Biology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell proliferation; Cell Separation; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; Colorectal Neoplasms - metabolism; Drug resistance; Flow cytometry; Glycoproteins; Glycoproteins - metabolism; Humans; Internal Medicine; Laboratory Medicine; Metastases; Mice; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - pathology; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Pathology; Therapeutic targets; Tumorigenicity; characteristics; colorectal cancer; identification; CD133 marker; colorectal cancer stem cells
• ISSN: 0007-4888; 1573-8221
• DOI: 10.1007/s10517-024-06026-x

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is maintained by putative colorectal cancer stem-like cells (CRC-CSCs) that are responsible for CRC metastasis and relapse. Targeting these CSCs can be an effective treatment of CRC. However, reliable identification of CRC-CSCs remains controversial due to the absence of specific markers. It is assumed that glycoprotein CD133 can serve as a useful marker for identification of CRC-CSCs. In this study, we employed CD133 as a marker to identify CRC-CSCs in human (LoVo, HCT116, and SW620) and mouse (CT26) CRC cell lines. In these lines, CD133 + cells were isolated and identified by magnetic-activated cell sorting and flow cytometry. Proliferation, colony formation, and drug resistance of CD133 + cells were analyzed in vitro , and their tumorigenicity was determined in vivo on mice. Proliferation, colony-forming ability, drug resistance, and tumorigenicity of CD133 + cells were higher than those of CD133 – cells. Thus, cultured CD133 + cells had the characteristics of CSCs. Hence, glycoprotein CD133 is a reliable marker to identify CRC-CSCs. These results can be used for designing a novel therapeutic target in CRC treatment.