Human acute myelogenous leukemia stem cells are rare and heterogeneous when assayed in NOD/SCID/IL2Rγc-deficient mice.

ABSTRACT: Human leukemic stem cells, like other cancer stem cells, are hypothesized to be rare, capable of incomplete differentiation, and restricted to a phenotype associated with early hematopoietic progenitors or stem cells. However, recent work in other types of tumors has challenged the cancer stem cell model. Using a robust model of xenotransplantation based on NOD/SCID/IL2Rγc-deficient mice, we confirmed that human leukemic stem cells, functionally defined by us as SCID leukemia-initiating cells (SL-ICs), are rare in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). In contrast to previous results, SL-ICs were found among cells expressing lineage markers (i.e., among Lin+ cells), CD38, or CD45RA, all markers associated with normal committed progenitors. Remarkably, each engrafting fraction consistently recap

SUBMITTER: Sarry JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3007135 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature