Biological behavioral trait of SP cells in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 in vitro

OBJECTIVE:To explore the biological distinction of SP cells in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 in vitro.METHODS:The expression of ABCG2 in cell line A549 was detected by immunohisto-chemistry,SP and NSP cells of cell line A549 were isolated by fluorescence activated cell sorter,and the expression of ABCG2 in SP and NSP cells was detected by RT-PCR.The biological distinction of the two cell subsets was studied by the cell growth curves,the cell divisional indexes,the cell cycles,the plate clone formation tests,the migration and invasion assays.RESULTS:The positive expression rate of ABCG2 in cell line A549 was about 2%.SP cells expressed ABCG2 but NSP cells did not express.The proliferation and migration ability of the two cell subsets was similar(P0.05),but the cloning efficiency and invasion ability of SP cells in vitro was significantly higher than that of NSP cells(P0.05).CONCLUSIONS:The ability of the vitro clone formation and invasion of SP cells in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 is more surpassed than that of the NSP cells.SP cells may enrich tumor stem cells.