Wnt-responsive cancer stem cells are located close to distorted blood vessels and not in hypoxic regions in a p53-null mouse model of human breast cancer.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cells (CSCs, or tumor-initiating cells) may be responsible for tumor formation in many types of cancer, including breast cancer. Using high-resolution imaging techniques, we analyzed the relationship between a Wnt-responsive, CSC-enriched population and the tumor vasculature using p53-null mouse mammary tumors transduced with a lentiviral Wnt signaling reporter. Consistent with their localization in the normal mammary gland, Wnt-responsive cells in tumors were enriched in the basal/myoepithelial population and generally located in close proximity to blood vessels. The Wnt-responsive CSCs did not colocalize with the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α-positive cells in these p53-null basal-like tumors. Average vessel diameter and vessel tortuosity were increased in p53-null mouse tumors

SUBMITTER: Vadakkan TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4073819 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature