J Gastric Cancer.  2010 Sep;10(3):99-105.

CD44 and CD133 as Cancer Stem Cell Markers for Gastric Cancer

• Lee HJ
• Choi YS
• Kim SJ
• Moon HJ

Abstract

PURPOSE
Currently, the two most influential gastric stem cell marker candidates are CD44 and CD133. The aim of this study was to make a comparison and determine the appropriate marker for use in gastric cancer stem cell research.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We analyzed the expressions of CD44, CD133, and CD24 from the gastric cancer cell lines MKN45, MKN74, KATO-III, NCI-N87, SNU-1, SNU-216, SNU-601, SNU-638, and SNU-688 using flow cytometry. In addition, we measured the change in viability after applying 5 fluorouracil (5-FU) to the MKN45, MKN74, KATO-III, and NCI-N87 cell lines using a Cell Counting Kit 8.
RESULTS
CD133 expression was above moderate in the KATO-III, SNU-216, SNU-601 cell lines, whereas it was below 1% in the remaining cell lines. CD44 was expressed at levels above 5% in all gastric cancer cell lines. The effect of 5-FU on viability and CD133 or CD44 expression in the cell lines were not related.
CONCLUSIONS
Expression of CD133 positive cells was insufficient in the gastric cancer cell lines. Therefore, of the cell lines tested, CD44 was the most appropriate tumor maker for research on gastric cancer stem cells.

Keyword

Gastric cancer; Cancer stem cells; CD44; CD133

MeSH Terms

Cell Count
Cell Line
Flow Cytometry
Fluorouracil
Neoplastic Stem Cells
Stem Cell Research
Stem Cells
Stomach Neoplasms
Fluorouracil

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Expression of CD133, CD44, CD24 on gastric cancer cell lines using flow cytometry. (A) Expression of CD133 was detected only on KATO-III, SNU-216 and SNU-601. (B) Expressions of CD44 were above 5% on all cell lines. CD44+/CD24+ subpopulations were found to be highly expressive on MKN45 and SNU-688.

• 

  Fig. 2 Morphologic appearance and viability of 5-FU treated gastric cancer cell lines; KMN45, KMN74, KATO-III, NCI-N87. (A) Gastric cancer cells were incubated with RPMI and 5 µM of 5-FU. Cells were examined by light microscopy on the 8th day of treatment. (B) Cell viability measured by CCK-8 assays. 5 µM of 5-FU was added to gastric cancer cell lines and cell viability was measured using the CCK-8 assay on 0 day, 2 day, 5 day and 8 day. Cell viability was slightly more decreased in KATO-III cells than others.

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