BACKGROUND Liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death. Every type of tumours including liver cancer contains cancer stem cells (CSCs). To date, the molecular mechanism regulating the development of liver CSCs remains unknown. METHODS In this study, we tried to generate a new model of liver CSCs by converting mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs) with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line Huh7 cells conditioned medium (CM). miPSCs treated with CM were injected into the liver of BALB/c nude mice. The developed tumours were then excised and analysed. RESULTS The primary cultured cells from the malignant tumour possessed self-renewal capacity, differentiation potential and tumorigenicity in vivo, which were found rich in liver cancer-associated markers as well as CSC markers. CONCLUSIONS We established a model of liver CSCs converting from miPS and showed different stages of stemness during conversion process. Our CSC model will be important to assess the molecular mechanisms necessary to develop liver CSCs and could help in defeating liver cancer.

中文翻译：

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从诱导的多能干细胞发展出来的肝癌干细胞的新型模型。

背景技术肝癌是癌症相关死亡的第二大最常见原因。包括肝癌在内的所有类型的肿瘤都包含癌干细胞（CSC）。迄今为止，调节肝脏CSCs发育的分子机制仍然未知。方法在本研究中，我们试图通过将小鼠诱导的多能干细胞（miPSCs）与肝细胞癌（HCC）细胞系Huh7细胞条件培养基（CM）转化来建立新的肝CSC模型。将经CM处理的miPSC注射到BALB / c裸鼠的肝脏中。然后切除发展的肿瘤并进行分析。结果恶性肿瘤原代培养细胞具有自我更新能力，分化潜能和体内致瘤性，发现其富含肝癌相关标志物和CSC标志物。结论我们建立了从miPS转化肝CSC的模型，并显示了转化过程中茎的不同阶段。我们的CSC模型对于评估开发肝CSC所需的分子机制非常重要，并且可以帮助战胜肝癌。