Prostate cancer stem cells (PrCSCs) are responsible for the development of castration-resistant disease and are associated with poor outcomes; however, the origin of PrCSCs is still not known due to the lack of a suitable model. In the current study, the human prostate cancer cell line 22RV1 was used to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) via the exogenous expression of four classic transcription factors (OCT-4, SOX2, KLF4, and C-MYC). The iPSCs were analyzed by phase contrast microscopy, real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, and examined for karyotype and embryoid body and teratoma formation. The analyses demonstrated that the prostate cancer cells were successfully reprogrammed into iPSCs by characteristic human embryonic stem cell morphology, cell marker expression, AP activity, embryoid body, and pluripotency capability in generating all three embryonic germ layers. These results may provide a convenient and accessible model for studying the origin of PrCSCs and the process by which progenitor cells are transformed into PrCSCs.

中文翻译：

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将前列腺癌细胞重编程为诱导性多能干细胞：前列腺癌干细胞研究的有前途的模型。

前列腺癌干细胞（PrCSCs）导致去势抵抗疾病的发展，并与不良预后相关；然而，由于缺乏合适的模型，PrCSCs的起源仍然未知。在当前研究中，人类前列腺癌细胞系22RV1通过四种经典转录因子（OCT-4，SOX2，KLF4和C-MYC）的外源表达用于诱导多能干细胞（iPSC）的产生。通过相差显微镜，实时聚合酶链反应，免疫荧光，碱性磷酸酶（AP）活性对iPSC进行分析，并检查其核型和胚状体以及畸胎瘤的形成。分析表明，前列腺癌细胞已通过特征性的人类胚胎干细胞形态，细胞标志物表达，AP活性，胚状体，并具有产生所有三个胚芽层的全能能力。这些结果可能为研究PrCSCs的起源以及祖细胞转化为PrCSCs的过程提供方便和可访问的模型。