The Effect of Morusin on Stemness Phenotype of Laryngeal Cancer Stem Cell

  Objective  To investigate the regulation effect of Morusin on stemness phenotype of laryngeal cancer stem cells.

  Methods  Separation and detection the proportion of CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells through flow cytometry; evaluation the self-renewal ability of CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells by tumor sphere formation assay; exploring the migration ability of CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells by Transwell assay; analyzing the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy drugs on CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells by modified MTT assay; detection of the expression levels of stemness associated markers by immunofluorescence staining, RT-qPCR and Western blot. After treatment with different concentrations of Morusin, cells were performed the above experiments for detection the self-renewal ability, migration ability, cytotoxicity resistance and expression of stemness associated markers.

  Results  Flow cytometry analysis showed that the proportion of CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells was (3.50±0.34)%, while after enrichment, the proportion increased to (93.20±5.23)%. CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells exhibited better self-renewal ability (P<0.001) and migratory ability (P<0.05); they were resistant to the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy drug (P<0.05), and highly expressed of stemness associated markers. After being treated with Morusin, the self-renewal and migratory abilities of CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells were reduced (P<0.05). In addition, after treated with Morusin, CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells were more sensitive to chemotherapy drugs; moreover, the expression levels of stemness associated markers were decreased.

  Conclusion  CD133⁺ laryngeal cancer stem cells possessed stemness phenotypic characteristics. Morusin attenuated stemness phenotype of laryngeal cancer stem cells, which may be related to its down-regulation effect on stemness associated markers.