Application of gap junction protein and coding gene thereof in preparing medicament for reversing malignant phenotype of cancer stem cell

Abstract

The invention discloses application of gap junction protein and coding gene thereof in preparing medicament for reversing malignant phenotype of a cancer stem cell, and investigates the functional state of gap junction communication in the tumor stem cell, expression condition of the gap junction protein and relation between the gap junction protein and special biological characteristics of tumorstem cells. Results prove that compared with differentiated tumor cells, gap junction communication obstacle exists in the tumor stem cell, no clear gap junction like structure is found among the cells, and expressions of various gap junction protein, particularly gap junction protein 43(Cx43), is down regulated; the down regulation of the expression of the Cx43 is related to promoter methylationof coding gene GJA1 thereof and expression of micro RNA; recovering of the expression of the Cx43 in the tumor stem cell can remarkably reduce the self-renew ability, tumor forming ability and invasion ability of the tumor stem cells, which is related to partial recovery of the gap junction communication function, up regulation of E-cadherin expression and inactivity of SDF-1 / CXCR4 downstream signal path (AKT and ERK1 / 2); and the gap junction protein and coding gene thereof can be used for preparing the medicament for reversing malignant phenotype of the cancer stem cell.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the application of a gap junction protein and its coding gene in the preparation of drugs for reversing the malignant phenotype of tumor stem cells, and belongs to the field of biomedicine. Background technique [0002] Malignant tumors are diseases with high morbidity and high mortality that seriously endanger human health. Traditional tumor therapy is aimed at all tumor cells, and it is believed that tumor cells have functional homogeneity. In recent years, as tumor stem cells (Tumour stem cells, TSC) have been successfully isolated from different tumor tissues, the existence of tumor stem cells has been strongly proved, and a new theory has been provided for in-depth exploration of tumor occurrence, development and prognosis evaluation. It also brings new ideas for tumor treatment. More and more evidences show that tumor cells have functional heterogeneity. Among tumor cell populations, only tumor stem cell subsets have th...

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Problems solved by technology

However, the above research results are all based on tumor cells, and in tumor stem cells, the functional status of gap junction communication, the expression of gap junction proteins, and the relationship between them and the special biological characteristics of tumor stem cells are still unclear

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