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Drug resistance

Sidelined

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 4, page 834 (2004)Cite this article

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Hirschmann-Jax et al. first identifed a SP in primary neuroblastoma tumour cells using the fluorescent dye Hoechst 3342 to separate out the population of cells with high efflux capability. SP cells account for ∼0.03% of mononuclear cells in normal human bone marrow — the proportion of viable cells classified as SP cells in the neuroblastoma samples was 1.9% (ranging from 0.8–51%).

So, did these cells have any definitive markers and how did they behave? The authors found that the neuronal marker ganglioside (GD2) and the stem-cell growth-factor receptor KIT were overexpressed. This indicated that the cells have an early neural-crest progenitor cell phenotype — before they become neuroblasts or mature into differentiated progeny. Consistent with this finding, the authors observed that the SP subpopulation had a high proliferation rate and self-renewal capacity.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Hirschmann-Jax, C. et al. A distinct 'side population' of cells with high drug efflux capacity in human tumor cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 28 Sept 2004 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0400067101)

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Authors
  1. Ezzie Hutchinson
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Hutchinson, E. Sidelined. Nat Rev Cancer 4, 834 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1481

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1481

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