Sca1⁺ murine pituitary adenoma cells show tumor-growth advantage.

ABSTRACT: The role of tumor stem cells in benign tumors such as pituitary adenomas remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether the cells within pituitary adenomas that spontaneously develop in Rb+/- mice are hierarchically distributed with a subset being responsible for tumor growth. Cells derived directly from such tumors grew as spheres in serum-free culture medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor. Some cells within growing pituitary tumor spheres (PTS) expressed common stem cell markers (Sca1, Sox2, Nestin, and CD133), but were devoid of hormone-positive differentiated cells. Under subsequent differentiating conditions (matrigel-coated growth surface), PTS expressed all six pituitary hormones. We next searched for specific markers of the ste

SUBMITTER: Donangelo I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3978815 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature