CD133+CD24lo defines a 5-Fluorouracil-resistant colon cancer stem cell-like phenotype

Metastatic human colon carcinoma cell lines LS411N and SW620 were cultured in the presence of increased concentration of 5-FU. The selected stable cell lines (LS411N-5FU-R and SW620-5FU-R) are CD133+ that are resistant to 5-FU. However, FACS-sorted CD133+ cells from LS411N and SW620 are not resistant to 5-FU, suggesting that only a subset of CD133+ cells are 5-FU-resistant colon cancer stem cells. A global gene expression profiling was performed to identify differentiated expressed genes between LS411N-CD133+ cells and LS411N-5FU-R, and between SW620-CD133+ and SW620-5FU-R cells. These differentially expressed genes are potentially responsible for the colon cancer stem cell phenotypes and chemoresistance.

8