Objective: Brain tumor-initiating cells are characterized by their features of self-renewal, multi-lineage differentiation, and tumorigenicity. We analyzed the gene expression of brain tumor-initiating cells to identify their novel cellular markers. Methods: We performed cDNA microarray, in silico expressed sequence tags (ESTs), RT-PCR, and q-PCR analyses. Results: We identified 10 genes that were more highly expressed in brain tumor-initiating cells than in neural stem cells. In addition, we identified 10 other genes that were more highly expressed in brain tumor-initiating cells than in glioma cell line cells from the cDNA microarray analysis. Using the EST database, we looked to see if the 20 genes were expressed more highly in gliomas, compared with normal adult brains. Among the 20 genes, five (KLRC2, HOXB2, KCNJ2, KLRC1, and COL20A1) were expressed more than twice in glioma samples, compared with normal adult brains, and, therefore, were referred for further evaluation. RT-PCR was conducted using cDNA samples obtained from neural stem cells, normal brain tissue, fetal brain tissue, glioma cell lines, and glioma tumor-initiating cell lines. KLRC2, a transmembrane activating receptor in natural killer cells, was expressed more highly in glioma-initiating cells than in neural stem cell lines or normal adult brain tissue. The q-PCR analysis revealed that expression of KLRC2 was significantly higher in brain tumor-initiating cells compared to normal brain controls. Conclusion: KLRC2 could be a novel cellular marker for brain tumor-initiating cells.

中文翻译：

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鉴定KLRC2作为脑肿瘤引发细胞的候选标记。

目的：脑肿瘤启动细胞具有自我更新，多谱系分化和致瘤性的特征。我们分析了脑肿瘤引发细胞的基因表达，以鉴定其新型细胞标志物。方法：我们进行了cDNA微阵列，计算机表达序列标签（EST），RT-PCR和q-PCR分析。结果：我们鉴定了10个在脑肿瘤引发细胞中比在神经干细胞中表达更高的基因。此外，我们从cDNA微阵列分析中鉴定出了10个其他基因，它们在脑肿瘤起始细胞中比在神经胶质瘤细胞系中的表达更高。与正常的成人大脑相比，我们使用EST数据库查看了20个基因在神经胶质瘤中的表达是否更高。在这20个基因中，有五个（KLRC2，HOXB2，KCNJ2，KLRC1，与正常成年人的大脑相比，神经胶质瘤样本中的COL20A1和COL20A1）的表达超过两倍，因此被转为进一步评估。使用从神经干细胞，正常脑组织，胎儿脑组织，神经胶质瘤细胞系和神经胶质瘤肿瘤起始细胞系获得的cDNA样品进行RT-PCR。KLRC2是天然杀伤细胞中的跨膜激活受体，在神经胶质瘤起始细胞中的表达高于神经干细胞系或正常成人脑组织中的表达。q-PCR分析表明，与正常的大脑对照相比，在脑肿瘤引发细胞中KLRC2的表达明显更高。结论：KLRC2可能是脑肿瘤启动细胞的一种新型细胞标记。被转介作进一步评估。使用从神经干细胞，正常脑组织，胎儿脑组织，神经胶质瘤细胞系和神经胶质瘤肿瘤起始细胞系获得的cDNA样品进行RT-PCR。KLRC2是天然杀伤细胞中的跨膜激活受体，在神经胶质瘤起始细胞中的表达高于在神经干细胞系或正常成人脑组织中的表达。q-PCR分析表明，与正常的大脑对照相比，在脑肿瘤引发细胞中KLRC2的表达明显更高。结论：KLRC2可能是脑肿瘤启动细胞的一种新型细胞标记。被转介作进一步评估。使用从神经干细胞，正常脑组织，胎儿脑组织，神经胶质瘤细胞系和神经胶质瘤肿瘤起始细胞系获得的cDNA样品进行RT-PCR。KLRC2是天然杀伤细胞中的跨膜激活受体，在神经胶质瘤起始细胞中的表达高于神经干细胞系或正常成人脑组织中的表达。q-PCR分析表明，与正常的大脑对照相比，在脑肿瘤引发细胞中KLRC2的表达明显更高。结论：KLRC2可能是脑肿瘤启动细胞的一种新型细胞标记。天然杀伤细胞中的跨膜激活受体在神经胶质瘤起始细胞中的表达要比神经干细胞系或正常成人脑组织中的表达高。q-PCR分析表明，与正常的大脑对照相比，在脑肿瘤引发细胞中KLRC2的表达明显更高。结论：KLRC2可能是脑肿瘤启动细胞的一种新型细胞标记。天然杀伤细胞中的跨膜激活受体在神经胶质瘤起始细胞中的表达要比神经干细胞系或正常成人脑组织中的表达高。q-PCR分析表明，与正常的大脑对照相比，在脑肿瘤引发细胞中KLRC2的表达明显更高。结论：KLRC2可能是脑肿瘤启动细胞的一种新型细胞标记。