Complement proteins C7 and CFH control the stemness of liver cancer cells via LSF-1.

ABSTRACT: Tumor-initiating cells are important for the formation and maintenance of tumor bulks in various tumors. To identify surface markers of liver tumor-initiating cells, we performed primary tumorsphere culture and analyzed the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) antigen genes using NanoString. Interestingly, we found significant upregulation of the complement proteins (p = 1.60 × 10(-18)), including C7 and CFH. Further studies revealed that C7 and CFH are required to maintain stemness in liver cancer cells. Knockdown of C7 and CFH expression abrogated tumorsphere formation and induced differentiation, whereas overexpression stimulated stemness factor expression as well as in vivo cell growth. Mechanistically, by studying C7 and CFH-dependent LSF-1 expression and its direct role on s

SUBMITTER: Seol HS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4744505 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature