Tumor Initiation Capacity and Therapy Resistance Are Differential Features of EMT-Related Subpopulations in the NSCLC Cell Line A549.

ABSTRACT: Cell lines are essential tools to standardize and compare experimental findings in basic and translational cancer research. The current dogma states that cancer stem cells feature an increased tumor initiation capacity and are also chemoresistant. Here, we identified and comprehensively characterized three morphologically distinct cellular subtypes in the non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549 and challenge the current cancer stem cell dogma. Subtype-specific cellular morphology is maintained during short-term culturing, resulting in the formation of holoclonal, meroclonal, and paraclonal colonies. A549 holoclone cells were characterized by an epithelial and stem-like phenotype, paraclone cells featured a mesenchymal phenotype, whereas meroclone cells were phenotypically intermediate. C

SUBMITTER: Tieche CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6309124 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature