Autophagy promotes resistance to photodynamic therapy-induced apoptosis selectively in colorectal cancer stem-like cells.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have indicated that cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) exhibit a high resistance to current therapeutic strategies, including photodynamic therapy (PDT), leading to the recurrence and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). In cancer, autophagy acts as both a tumor suppressor and a tumor promoter. However, the role of autophagy in the resistance of CSCs to PDT has not been reported. In this study, CSCs were isolated from colorectal cancer cells using PROM1/CD133 (prominin 1) expression, which is a surface marker commonly found on stem cells of various tissues. We demonstrated that PpIX-mediated PDT induced the formation of autophagosomes in PROM1/CD133(+) cells, accompanied by the upregulation of autophagy-related proteins ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, and ATG12. The inhibition of PDT-induce

SUBMITTER: Wei MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4203546 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature