Role of PrPC in Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics and Drug Resistance in Colon Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIM Cancer stem cell characteristics and drug resistance of colorectal cancer are associated with failure of cancer treatment. In this study, we investigated the effects of PrPC on cancer stem cell characteristics, migration, invasion, and drug resistance of 5FU-resistant CRC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS PrPC negative and PrPC positive cells were isolated from 5FU-resistant CRC cells using magnetic activated cell sorting. Sphere formation, cancer stem cell marker expression, migration, invasion, and drug resistance were analyzed. RESULTS PrPC positive cells showed increased sphere formation capacity and increased expression of cancer stem cell markers compared to PrPC negative cells. In addition, PrPC positive cells showed increased migration, invasion and drug resistance compared to PrPC negative cells. Furthermore, knockdown of PrPC abolished these effects. CONCLUSION PrPC expression is important in CRC cell behavior, such as sphere formation, migration, invasion, and drug resistance. PrPC is an important therapeutic target for the treatment of CRC.