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Isolation of cancer stem cells from adult glioblastoma
multiforme
Xiangpeng Yuan1, James Curtin2,
Yizhi Xiong2, Gentao Liu1, Sebastian
Waschsmann-Hogiu2, Daniel L Farkas2,
Keith L Black1 and John S Yu1
1Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, Suite 800 East,
8631 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. 2Department of Medicine and Surgery, Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Correspondence to: JS Yu, E-mail: yuj@cshs.org.
Received 5 October 2004; revised 21 October 2004; accepted 21
October 2004; published online 22 November 2004.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is
the most common adult primary brain tumor and is comprised of a
heterogeneous population of cells.
It is unclear which cells within the tumor mass are responsible
for tumor initiation and maintenance.
In this study, we report that brain tumor stem cells can be
identified from adult GBMs.
These tumor stem cells form neurospheres, possess the capacity for
self-renewal, express genes associated with neural stem cells
(NSCs), generate daughter cells of different phenotypes from one
mother cell, and differentiate into the phenotypically diverse
populations of cells similar to those present in the initial
GBM.
Having a distinguishing feature from normal NSCs, these tumor stem
cells can reform spheres even after the induction of
differentiation.
Furthermore, only these tumor stem cells were able to form tumors
and generate both neurons and glial cells after in vivo
implantation into nude mice.
The identification of tumor stem cells within adult GBM may
represent a major step forward in understanding the origin and
maintenance of GBM and lead to the identification and testing of
new therapeutic targets.
© 2004 Nature Publishing Group
.JPG)
Abstract
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