Abstract:
Objective: To investigate the existence of side population cells with the potency of stem cells in human gallbladder carcinoma cell line GBC-SD and the differences in ABCG 2, Oct- 4 and CD34expression among SP cells, non-SP cells and GBC-SD cells. Methods:SP and non-SP cells were sorted from GBC-SD cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The expression of ABCG 2, Oct- 4 and CD34in SP cells, non-SP cells, and GBC-SD cells was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot, flow cytometry (FCM) and immunofluorescence chemistry. Results: SP cells with stem cell poten -cy were isolated from GBC-SD cells with a proportion of ( 0.64± 0.08)%. The metastatic ability of SP cells was obviously higher than that of non-SP cells and GBC-SD cells ( P<0.05). The expression of ABCG2 was signifi-cantly higher in SP cells than in non-SP cells and GBC-SD cells (89.56± 3.86)% vs. ( 1.32± 0.49)% and ( 12.37±1.61)% , P=0.001 . The expression of Oct- 4 in these cells was ( 94.87± 1.40)% , ( 88.16± 2.34)% and (90.17±1.61)% , respectively (P>0.05). CD 34 was nearly absent in these cells on protein level (1.78± 0.51)% vs. (0.63± 0.21)% and ( 0.96± 0.381 )% , P>0.05), but it was highly expressed in non-SP cells and GBC-SD cells and absent in SP cells on mRNA level.Conclusion:SP cells, which have the potency of stem cells, exist in human gallbladder carcinoma GBC-SD cell line and have the phenotype of ABCG 2+Oct-4+CD34-.