CD44+CD24-/low乳腺癌干细胞活性与多药耐药的相关性

Relationship between cell activity and multidrug resistance of CD44+CD24-/low breast cancer stem cells

BACKGROUND:Tumor stem cells are found to be involved in the recurrence, metastasis and drug resistance of the tumor. OBJECTIVE:To explore the relationship between cell activity and multidrug resistance of CD44⁺CD24^-/low breast cancer stem cells. METHODS: CD44⁺CD24^-/low breast cancer stem cells sorted from multidrug resistant breast cancer cell line MCF-7/ADR were detected as percentage using flow cytometry. P-gp fluorescence intensity of the cell membrane and MDR mRNA expression in sorted cells and MCF-7/ADR were detected using flow cytometry and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After sorting by flow cytometry, the proportion of CD44⁺CD24^-/low breast cancer stem cells was more than 90%, indicating that the sorted cells could meet the needs of the subsequent experiment. CD44⁺CD24^-/low cell subsets exhibited stronger ability to form microspheres than non- CD44⁺CD24^-/low cell subsets. The P-gp fluorescence intensity and MDR mRNA expression of CD44⁺CD24^-/low cells were significantly higher than those of MFC-7/ADR cell line (P < 0.05). These experimental findings suggest that CD44⁺CD24^-/low breast cancer stem cells sorted from MCF-7/ADR cell lines have a strong ability to form cell microspheres in vitro, and significantly raise the level of P-gp protein and MDR mRNA expression, which may be one of the causes of multidrug resistance.