Identification of thiostrepton as a novel therapeutic agent that targets human colon cancer stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Accumulating evidence shows that colorectal cancer stem cells (CRSCs) are largely responsible for the metastasis and relapse of colorectal cancer (CRC) after therapy. Hence, identifying new agents that specifically target CRSCs would help improve the effectiveness of current CRC therapies. To accelerate identification of agents targeting CRSCs, the Connectivity Map (CMap) approach was used. Among the top-ranked candidates, thiostrepton, a thiazole antibiotic, was selected for further investigation because of its known tumoricidal activity. Thiostrepton could selectively induce apoptosis in CRSC subpopulations in both parental HCT-15 and HT-29 human CRC lines as well as in EMT and chemoresistant clones derived from them. Further, we investigated its inhibitory effects on the sphere- and col

SUBMITTER: Ju SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4650716 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature