Stem cell-assisted enzyme/prodrug therapy makes drug-resistant ovarian cancer cells vulnerable to natural killer cells through upregulation of NKG2D ligands.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are believed to be responsible for cancer recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, a therapeutic approach is needed to eliminate both rapidly proliferating differentiated cancer cells and slow-growing drug-resistant CSCs. Using established ovarian cancer cells lines as well as ovarian cancer cells isolated from a patient with high-grade drug-resistant ovarian carcinoma, we demonstrate that ovarian CSCs consistently express lower levels of NKG2D ligands (MICA/B and ULBPs) on their surfaces, a mechanism by which they evade natural killer (NK) cells' surveillance. Here, we discovered that exposure of ovarian cancer (OC) cells to SN-38 followed by 5-FU not only acts synergistically to kill the OC cells, but also makes the CSCs vulnerable to NK92 cells through upregul

SUBMITTER: Li G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10794068 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature