SP, SZ, AG, DF and DP participated in the experiments of cell culture and molecular biology. MM participated in statistical analysis and interpretation. SN, NS and AS participated in the design of the experiments. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Introduction Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common breast

malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide.[1] Despite developments in surgical methods, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and agents targeted against estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2, a subset of patients with advanced stage invasive ductal carcinoma may experience tumor recurrence or metastasis within several years after treatment. It has been estimated that 11% of women with invasive ductal carcinoma will experience a

https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Trichostatin-A.html recurrence within five years after surgery, including 8% of women with luminal A breast cancers and 15% of women with tumors having basal-like features.[2, 3] The cancer stem cell hypothesis was proposed to explore breast cancer heterogeneity and the risk of breast cancer recurrence, and these cell subpopulations may contribute to drug resistance that drives tumor recurrence or metastasis [4]. Using keratin profiling, Hoechst dye efflux, and flow cytometry analysis of cell surface markers such as CD44, CD24, CD133, epithelial cell adhesion molecule, and mucin-1,[5] normal human breast stem-cell like cells have been independently identified GS-4997 manufacturer as showing elevated expression of CD44 and no expression of CD24 (CD44+/CD24-), as well as elevated levels of stem cell enriched genes.[6] The CD44+/CD24- subpopulation Interleukin-2 receptor was believed

to be putative stem cells in human breast tissue, enriched for basal cells and motility genes, which could be generated during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, these cells were negative for mucin 1, estrogen receptor (ER), and v-erb-b2 erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2 (erbB2) receptor.[7, 8] More importantly, high expression of CD44+/CD24- cancer cells was associated with poor patient prognosis.[9] These cells had the phenotype of cancer cells during the epithelial to mesenchymal transition, [10] indicating that the gene expression pattern of CD44+/CD24- cells in breast cancers resembled more closely the pattern observed in CD44+/CD24- cells in normal breast than that of CD44-/CD24+ cells isolated from the same tumor.[6] Taken together, these findings indicated that CD44+/CD24- cells, especially those expressing epithelial cell adhesion molecule, were breast cancer stem cells (CSCs).[11] In contrast, breast cancer cells expressing elevated levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) were also described as breast CSCs, with ALDH1+/CD44+/CD24- cells displaying strong tumorigenic potential.[12] Moreover, breast CSCs were believed to constitute up to 35% of the cancer cells in a tumor, whereas these cells Cell Cycle inhibitor constituted only about 1% of stem and progenitor cells present in normal breast [13].