Abstract:
Objective:To compare the effects of 3 enrichment models of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in colon cancer DLD1 cells.
Methods:DLD1 cells were cultured in 3 kinds of serumfree medium containing various growth factors to generate spheroid cells, including G1 group using 10 ng/mL EGF+10 ng/mL bFGF, G2 group using 20 ng/mL EGF+10 ng/mL bFGF and G3 group using 20 ng/mL EGF+20 ng/mL bFGF. The cell proportion of CD133+CD44+, CD133+, CD44+ and ALDH+ were confirmed by flow cytometery. The mRNA expression of stem cells related genes (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog) and colon CSCs genes (CD133, CD44, CD166, ALDH, CD66c) were detected by realtime polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). The capacity of selfrenewal was detected by sphereforming assay. The tumorigenesis in vivo was measured by colony formation assay. Measurement data with normal distribution were presented as

±s, comparisons among groups were analyzed using the oneway ANOVA, and pairwise comparisons were done by the pairedsamples t test. 〖HQK〗
Results:The results of flow cytometery: the proportion of CD133+CD44+ cells in the G1, G2 and G3 groups were 0.030±0.010, 0.113± 0.012 and 0.043±0.006, respectively, with a significant difference among the 3 groups (F=67.625, P< 0.05). The proportion of CD133+CD44+ cells in the G2 group was significantly different from those in the G1 and G3 groups (t=9.449, 12.124, P<005), with no significant difference between G1 and G3 groups (t= -4.000, P>005). The proportion of CD133+ cells in the G1, G2 and G3 groups were respectively 0.037± 0.015, 0.027±0.006 and 0.023±0.006, with no significant difference among the 3 groups (F=1.444, P>005). The proportions of CD44+ cells in the G1, G2 and G3 groups were 20.103±4.761, 44.600±2.138 and 44.387±2.117, respectively, with a significant difference among the 3 groups (F=56.269, P<005). There were significant differences in the proportions of CD44+ cells between G1 group and G2 or G3 group (t= -10.024,-14.696, P<005), and no significant difference between G2 and G3 groups (t=0.131, P>005). The proportion of ALDH+ cells in the G1, G2 and G3 groups were 0.060±0.010, 0.627±0.068 and 0.043±0.021, respectively, with a significant difference among the 3 groups (F=192.097, P<005). The proportion of ALDH+ cells in the G2 group was significantly different from those in the G1 and G3 groups (t= 12.962, 21.380, P<005), with no significant difference between G1 and G3 groups (t=2.500, P>005).The results of RTPCR: mRNA expressions of G1, G2 and G3 groups were respectively 1.272±0.152, 11.636±3.164 and 1.420±0.201 in stem cell related genes Oct4, 4.717±0.409, 8.262±1.079 and 4.827±0.446 in stem cell related genes Sox2, 1.836±0.417, 12.883±4.030 and 1.636± 0.589 in stem cell related genes Nanog, 1.555±0.397, 4.367±1.109 and 1.208±0.165 in colon CSCs genes CD133, 25.853±4.544, 59.483±8.950 and 26.924±4.134 in colon CSCs genes CD44, 21.223±1.088, 57.847±5.880 and 21.710± 4.010 in colon CSCs genes CD166, 19.378±2.479, 78.211±9.879 and 18.475±3.571 in colon CSCs genes ALDH, 4.737±2.105, 18.003±3.826 and 5.211±1.474 in colon CSCs genes CD66c, showing significant differences among the 3 groups (F=31.529, 23.865, 21.557, 19.102, 27.837, 76.608, 90.530, 23.997, P<005). There were significant differences in the mRNA expression of genes between G2 group and G1 or G3 group (t=5.950, 8.997, 5.257, 5.507, 5.766, 9.158, 11.507, 6.730; 5.428, 7.782, 4.340, 5.583, 4.979, 6.829, 7.937, 8.445, P<005), and no significant difference between G1 and G3 groups (t= -0.797,-0.555, 0.392, 2.539,-1.004,-0.232, 0.265,-0.675, P>005). The results of sphereforming assay: the numbers of spheres in the G1, G2 and G3 groups were 182±34, 396±22 and 217±22, respectively, showing a significant difference among the 3 groups (F=56.128, P<005). The number of spheres in the G2 group was significantly different from those in the G1 and G3 groups (t=6.698, 9.483, P<005), with no significant difference between G1 and G3 groups (t=-1.904, P>005). The results of colony formation assay: the numbers of colonies in the G1, G2 and G3 groups were 230±33, 403±32 and 266±36, showing a significant difference (F=22.111, P<005). The number of colonies in the G2 group was significantly different from those in the G1 and G3 groups (t=5.053, 4.913, P<005), with no significant difference between G1 and G3 groups (t=-2.073, P>005).
Conclusion:The culturing cells using 20 ng/mL EGF+10 ng/mL bFGF could effectively promote the enrichment of CSCs in colon cancer DLD-1 cells.