ZHIXIONG WANG^1,2, NA RISU², JIAYU FU², HUI LIU³, GUOMIN ZHOU³, QIAN LIU³, YAN ZOU⁴, JIAXING TANG⁴, LONG LI⁴, XUEKAI ZHU^4,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.1, pp. 157-165, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.010261 - 26 January 2021

Abstract Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is mostly limited to hematological malignancies and has a poor effect on solid tumors. CAR T cells as a kind of immune cell may be affected by some immunomodulatory drugs such as pomalidomide, so the use of pomalidomide may improve the effect of CAR T cells on solid tumors. In this study, CD133- or HER2-specific CAR T cells were chosen to investigate whether pomalidomide can regulate the function of CAR T cells in vitro. We found that pomalidomide can significantly enhance the ability of CD133-CAR T cells and HER2-CAR T More >

Majed Al Fayi^*†, Ahmad Alamri^*, Prasanna Rajagopalan^*†

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.2, pp. 177-189, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15746768080428

Abstract Drug discovery research to fight lung cancer is incessantly challenged by drug resistance. In this study, we used drug-resistant lung cancer stem like cells (A549-CS) to compare the efficacy of standard drugs like cisplatin (DDP) and gemcitabine (GEM) with a novel arylidene derivative IOX-101. A549-CS was derived from regular A549 cells by growing in special media. Resistance proteins were detected using Western blotting. Cell proliferations were assessed by MTT assay. Cytokine release was enumerated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effect of drugs on apoptosis and cell cycle was studied with flow cytometry protocols. Apoptosis-related proteins,… More >

Hoda M. EL-EMSHATY¹, Entsar A. SAAD², Mona S. GOUIDA³, Zahraa R. ELSHAHAWY^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.42, No.2, pp. 55-60, 2018, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2018.07009

Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-cirrhotic patients have the highest threat of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may be at risk of extra hepatic cancer. The present study was designed to investigate CD133 and CK19 in HCV (genotype-4)-cirrhotic patients with/without HCC or extra hepatic cancer, to assess the degree of their correlation with cell cycle abnormalities and finally to assess the role of their combination as diagnostic tool for discrimination of cirrhotic patients with HCC from those with extra hepatic cancer. The study included 77 HCV-cirrhotic patients and 20 healthy non-disease control group. Patients were categorized… More >

Li-Zhou Fang^*, Jian-Qing Zhang^*, Ling Liu^*, Wei-Ping Fu^*, Jing-Kui Shu^*, Jia-Gang Feng^*, Xiao Liang^†

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.5, pp. 819-829, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14772349843854

Abstract Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for tumorigenesis and recurrence, so targeting CSCs is an effective method to potentially cure cancer. BTB/POZ domain-containing protein 7 (Btbd7) has been found in various cancers, including lung cancer and liver cancer, but the role of Btbd7 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), CSC self-renewal, and chemoresistance is still unknown. Therefore, in this study we found that the ratio of tumor sphere formation and stem cell transcription factors in CD133⁺ cells was dramatically enhanced compared to parental cells, which indicated successful sorting of CD133⁺ cells from A549. Meanwhile, Btbd7 and More >

Qifang Long^*, Weipei Zhu^*, Jundong Zhou^†, Jinchang Wu^†, Weixian Lu^‡, Cui Zheng^‡, Dongmei Zhou^‡, Ling Yu^‡, Ru Yang^‡

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.4, pp. 595-603, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14765492198706

Abstract Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal malignant gynecologic tumors with a high relapse rate worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in ovarian cancer and other malignant tumors as a small population of cells that are capable of self-renewal and multidifferentiation. CD133⁺ ovarian CSCs have been reported to be more tumorigenic and more resistant to chemotherapeutic treatment. Thus, CD133 has emerged as one of the most promising therapeutic markers for ovarian cancer treatment. In the current study, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus Cre/loxP regulation system to selectively introduce truncated Bid (tBid) expression specifically… More >

Su-Hoon Lee, Suh-Kyung Hyun, Hak-Bong Kim, Chi-Dug Kang, Sun-Hee Kim

Oncology Research, Vol.24, No.6, pp. 495-509, 2016, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14685034103950

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies, with a poor prognosis and high recurrence rate. In the present study, we identified CD133, one of the markers of cancer stem cells, as a novel molecular target of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). In four human HCC cell lines established from primary HCC tumors, we found that CD133-high human liver cancer stem-like cells (CD133^hi) derived from the SNU-475 cell line were highly susceptible to TRAIL compared to other HCC cell lines with a small population of CD133. CD133^hi SNU-475 cells showed upregulation of TRAIL… More >