Proteins and Molecular Pathways Relevant for the Malignant Properties of Tumor-Initiating Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a small subset of the tumor bulk with highly malignant properties, are deemed responsible for tumor initiation, growth, metastasis, and relapse. In order to reveal molecular markers and determinants of their tumor-initiating properties, we enriched rare stem-like pancreatic tumor-initiating cells (TICs) by harnessing their clonogenic growth capacity in three-dimensional multicellular spheroid cultures. We compared pancreatic TICs isolated from three-dimensional tumor spheroid cultures with nontumor-initiating cells (non-TICs) enriched in planar cultures. Employing differential proteomics (PTX), we identified more than 400 proteins with significantly different expression in pancreatic TICs and the non-TIC population. By combining the unbiased PTX with mRNA expressi

SUBMITTER: Samonig L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7349116 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature