Isolation and identification of a distinct side population cancer cells in the human epidermal squamous cancer cell line A431

• Published in: Archives of Dermatological Research Vol. 303; no. 3; pp. 181 - 189
• Main Authors: Geng, Songmei, Wang, Qianqian, Wang, Jianli, Hu, Zhishang, Liu, Chunchun, Qiu, Junkang, Zeng, Weihui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.04.2011; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: A431; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - genetics; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - metabolism; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Cell Separation; Dermatology; Flow Cytometry; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice; Mice, SCID; Microarray Analysis; Neoplasm Transplantation; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Neoplastic Stem Cells - pathology; Original Paper; Side population; Skin Neoplasms - genetics; Skin Neoplasms - metabolism; Skin Neoplasms - pathology; squamous cell carcinoma; Tumor Burden; Tumor Stem Cell Assay; Tumors of the skin and soft tissue. Premalignant lesions; Squamous cell carcinoma; Side population; A431; Human; Skin disease; Basal cell carcinoma; Dermatology; Identification; Malignant tumor; Cell line; Isolation; Tumor cell; Cancer
• ISSN: 0340-3696; 1432-069X; 1432-069X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00403-010-1100-1

Side population (SP) cells have been suggested to be multipotent cancer stem cells. To address whether SP cells exist in epidermal squamous cancer cell line A431, A431 cells dyed with Hoechst 33342 were sorted through flow cytometry. The SP cells were then analyzed by colony-forming and cell proliferation assay. Further, tumorigenicity and microarray analysis were used to compare biological difference between SP and non-SP (NSP) cells. Our results showed that SP cells existed in the A431 cell line, showing higher proliferating and colony-forming ability than NSP cells. Tumors generated from SP cells were larger than those from the NSP cells in NOD/SCID mice. The mRNA microarray profiling revealed that five cancer marker gene expressions were up-regulated and one tumor suppressor gene expression was down-regulated. These findings suggest that SP cells in A431 could contribute to self-renewal, neoplastic transformation, and cancer metastasis of human epidermal squamous cell carcinoma.