p63 inhibits CD44+/CD24‑ cell proliferation and chemoresistance in papillary thyroid carcinoma cells

Abstract

Thyroid cancer typically has a good prognosis; however, the risks of recurrence and chemoresistance associated with thyroid cancer remain a cause for concern. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) comprises 80% of all cases of thyroid carcinoma. A previous study reported that cluster of differentiation (CD) 44+/CD24− PTC cells may contribute to PTC recurrence and chemoresistance; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. In the present study, CD44+/CD24− cells were isolated from the TPC-1 PTC cell line and biological function assays revealed that CD44+/CD24− cells were significantly more proliferative and chemoresistant compared with CD44−/CD24− cells. Furthermore, the expression level of p63 was demonstrated to be negatively correlated with the expression of CD44 in PTC cells. The role of p63 in CD44+/CD24− cell proliferation and chemoresistance was investigated and, the ectopic expression of p63 was observed to significantly inhibit CD44+/CD24− cell proliferation and chemoresistance in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, the present study indicated that CD44+/CD24− cells contribute to PTC proliferation and chemoresistance and that the suppression of p63 in CD44+/CD24− cells contributes to these effects.

The prognostic value of cancer stem cell markers in thyroid cancer: a systematic review

“…Ahn et al [ 17 ] identified CD44+/CD24- cells in human papillary thyroid cancer cells, and the abundance of CD44+ cells exhibited a positive correlation with tumor aggressiveness. Guo et al [ 18 ] demonstrated that human papillary thyroid cancer cells expressing CD44+/CD24- exhibited enhanced proliferative capacity and resistance to 5-FU compared to CD44-/CD24- cells [ 18 ]. Ryu et al [ 11 ] showed that CD44+/CD24- was identified as an independent prognostic factor for PTC with a hazard ratio of 4.207.…”