DSCs Cell’s Biologistic Characterastics And Its Impact On The Transplanted Tumor Model In Nude Mice

Objective: To explore the breast cancer stem cell-like traits ofdrug surviving cells (DSCs) and its effect on the transplanted tumor in nudemice.Methods: Breast cancer cell line MCF-7cells were treated withDocetaxel (DTX) to gain DSCs at different time. The cell cycle distributionof MCF-7and DSCs were tested by flow cytometry. MCF-7cells andDSCs were cultured in serum-free suspension culture medium to acquiremicrospheres of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). The expression ofBCSCs marker ALDH1, CD44, CD24and ABCG2mRNA and proteinlevels were tested by Real-time qPCR and Western blot. Nude micetransplantation tumor experiment was applied to evaluate the tumorformation time, tumor formation rate and tumor volume between MCF-7and DSCs cells, respectively.Result: The cell population of stationary phase (G0/G1) wassignificantly increased in Docetaxel treated groups compared with MCF-7 group. Moreover, DSCs have stronger ability of forming breast cancer stemcells microspheres than MCF-7cells. The results of real-time qPCR andWestern blot showed that the expression of BCSCs marker ALDH1,CD44+/CD24-and ABCG2was drastically up-regulated in DSCs groups(P<0.05). Furthermore, the growth rate, the volumes of tumors in DSCsgroups were significant elevated compared with MCF-7group (P<0.05).Conclusion: DSCs exhibit the characteristics of breast cancer stemcells after treating with DTX, and promote the formation of xenografttumor in nude mice.