Identification of specific markers for cancer stem cells and anti-cancer therapy targeting cancer stem cells

我们研究了靶向Hes1和DcamkL1这两种可能的癌症干细胞标志物对结肠癌细胞的影响。HES1特异性siRNAs显著抑制了人结肠癌细胞的生长。此外，我们还检测了Hes1-siRNA对ApcMin小鼠的影响。最后，我们通过FACS分选从ApcMin小鼠的正常肠道和息肉中获得了Dockl1阳性的细胞，并发现了几个在DcamkL1阳性的肿瘤细胞中特异表达的转录本。针对DcamkL1阳性肿瘤细胞中唯一表达的分子的siRNAs或抑制剂抑制肿瘤细胞的生长，而不影响正常的上皮细胞。这些数据表明，在不影响正常组织干细胞的情况下，可能有针对癌症干细胞的抗癌策略。

We examined effects of targeting Hes1 and Dcamkl1, possible cancer stem cell markers, on colonic cancer cells. Hes1-specific siRNAs significantly reduced growth of human colonic cancer cells. In addition, we also examined the effect of Hes1-siRNA to ApcMin mice. Finally, we obtained Dckl1-positive cells from both normal intestine and polyps of ApcMin mice by FACS sorting, and found several transcripts specifically expressed in Dcamkl1-positive tumor cells. The siRNAs or inhibitors specific for the molecules exclusively expressed in Dcamkl1-positive tumor cells inhibited tumor cell growth without affecting normal epithelial cells. These data suggested possible anti-cancer strategy targeting cancer stem cells without affecting normal tissue stem cells.