Journal
STEM CELLS
Volume 28, Issue 8, Pages 1303-1314Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1002/stem.463
Keywords
Cripto-1; Embryonal carcinoma; Nanog; Oct4; Pluripotent stem cells; Tumorigenicity
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Funding
- NIH, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research
- NIH [CA59702, CA121205, CA75681]
- Eisenberg Research Fund
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Deregulation of stem cells is associated with the generation and progression of malignant tumors. In addition, genes that are associated with early embryogenesis are frequently expressed in cancer. Cripto-1 (CR-1), a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked glycoprotein, is expressed during early embryogenesis and in various human carcinomas. We demonstrated that human embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells are heterogeneous for CR-1 expression and consist of two distinct subpopulations: a CR-1(High) and a CR-1(Low) population. By segregating CR-1(High) and CR-1(Low) populations of NTERA2/D1 EC cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, we demonstrated that CR-1(High) cells were more tumorigenic than CR-1(Low) cells by an in vitro tumor sphere assay and by in vivo xenograft formation. The CR-1(High) population was enriched in mRNA expression for the pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cell genes Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog. CR-1 expression in NTERA2/D1 cells was regulated by a Smad2/3-dependent autocrine loop, by the ES cell-related transcription factors Oct4/Nanog, and partially by the DNA methylation status of the promoter region. These results demonstrate that CR-1 expression is enriched in an undifferentiated, tumorigenic subpopulation and is regulated by key regulators of pluripotent stem cells. STEM CELLS 2010; 28: 1303-1314
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