| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 599575 | Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces | 2015 | 7 Pages |
•We fabricated a series of microenviroment to program and mimic cancer stem cell niches.•A novel and label-free cancer stem cell selection method was established.•These selected cells demonstrated significant chemo-resistant property.
Recent studies indicate that a small population of cancer cells exhibits stem cell properties and are referred to as cancer-initiating or cancer stem cells (CSCs). The selection and identification of cancer stem cells through methods require well-defined biomarkers and immunolabeling procedures are complicated and often unreliable. Herein, we fabricated a series of microenviroment by using polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) nanofilms to program and mimic hepatocellular carcinoma CSCs niches for CSCs selection with a label-free method. When cultured on PEM substrates, human cancer cell lines-Huh7 cells grew into individual round colonies and these cells displayed high marker expression of CSCs. Especially, these selected cells demonstrated significant chemo-resistant property in comparison with normal population. Therefore, we believed that niches selection and colony formation method may provide a new strategy on CSCs selection and drug evaluation for cancer therapy.
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