A Label-Free Cell Sorting Approach to Highlight the Impact of Intratumoral Cellular Heterogeneity and Cancer Stem Cells on Response to Therapies.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cells play a crucial role in tumor initiation, metastasis, and resistance to treatment. Cellular heterogeneity and plasticity complicate the isolation of cancer stem cells. The impact of intra-tumor cellular heterogeneity using a label-free approach remains understudied in the context of treatment resistance. Here, we use the sedimentation field-flow fractionation technique to separate, without labeling, cell subpopulations of colorectal cancer cell lines and primary cultures according to their biophysical properties. One of the three sorted cell subpopulations exhibits characteristics of cancer stem cells, including high tumorigenicity in vivo and a higher frequency of tumor-initiating cells compared to the other subpopulations. Due to its chemoresistance, two- and three-dimen

SUBMITTER: Hervieu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9332486 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature