TRAIL-induced Apoptosis in Populations of Colon Cancer Cell Lines under Various Cultivation Conditions

Abstract

Tumor Necrosis Factor-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) is a cytokine of TNF family, which participates in the non-exclusive regulation of survival and proliferation of mainly hematopoietic cells. Shortly after its discovery it also brought significant attention as specific and potent inducer of apoptosis of cancer cells of various origins, and since then it has been investigated as a potential novel anti-tumor therapeutics. Recently, cancer stem cells (CSCs) were suggested to be a distinct subset of tumor cells that could be responsible at least in some tumors for their sustainment, recurrence and drug resistance. These cells in the "hierarchic" model of tumorigenesis thus represent an important and attractive target for efficient tumor therapy. In this study we use several colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines as an experimental model for the analysis of CSC-prone cultivation conditions on TRAIL-induced apoptosis of these cells. For enrichment of eventual cancer stem cells we cultivated cell lines in a serum-free medium, originally developed for cultivation of neural stem cells, and assessed the expression of putative CSC markers CD133 and ABCG2 by flow cytometry (FACS). Simultaneously, we tested the expression of TRAIL receptors and susceptibility to TRAIL-induced apoptosis in these cells. We...