Serial Xenotransplantation in NSG Mice Promotes a Hybrid Epithelial/Mesenchymal Gene Expression Signature and Stemness in Rhabdomyosarcoma Cells.

ABSTRACT: Serial xenotransplantation of sorted cancer cells in immunodeficient mice remains the most complex test of cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. However, we have demonstrated in various sarcomas that putative CSC surface markers fail to identify CSCs, thereby impeding the isolation of CSCs for subsequent analyses. Here, we utilized serial xenotransplantation of unsorted rhabdomyosarcoma cells in NOD/SCID gamma (NSG) mice as a proof-of-principle platform to investigate the molecular signature of CSCs. Indeed, serial xenotransplantation steadily enriched for rhabdomyosarcoma stem-like cells characterized by enhanced aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and increased colony and sphere formation capacity in vitro. Although the expression of core pluripotency factors (SOX2, OCT4, NANOG) and common CSC m

SUBMITTER: Skoda J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7016569 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature