Fang Wei, Tong Zhang, Zhi Yang, Jian-Chang Wei, Hong-Fen Shen, Dong Xiao, Qiang Wang, Ping Yang, Hua-Cui Chen, He Hu, Zhuan-Peng Chen, Qing Huang, Wang-Lin Li, Jie Cao
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gambogic acid (GA), the main active compound of Gamboge hanburyi, has been reported to be a potential novel antitumor drug. Whether GA inhibits putative cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are considered to be the major cause of cancer treatment failure, remains largely unknown. This study investigated whether GA inhibits the CSCs of colorectal cancer (CRC) and its possible mechanisms. METHODS: We performed CCK8 and tumor sphere formation assays, percentage analysis of both side population and CD133+CD44+ cells, and the detection of stem cells markers, in order to assess the role of GA in inhibiting the stem celllike features of CRC...
March 29, 2018: Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry