Cells acquire the invasive and migratory properties necessary for the invasion-metastasis cascade and
the establishment of aggressive, metastatic disease by reactivating a latent embryonic programme:
epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Herein, we report the development of a new, spontaneous
model of EMT which involves four phenotypically distinct clones derived from a primary tumourderived
human prostate cancer cell line (OPCT-1), and its use to explore relationships between EMT
and the generation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in prostate cancer. Expression of epithelial (E-cadherin)
and mesenchymal markers (vimentin, fibronectin) revealed that two of the four clones were incapable
of spontaneously activating EMT, whereas the others contained large populations of EMT-derived,
vimentin-positive cells having spindle-like morphology. One of the two EMT-positive clones exhibited
aggressive and stem cell-like characteristics, whereas the other was non-aggressive and showed
no stem cell phenotype. One of the two EMT-negative clones exhibited aggressive stem cell-like
properties, whereas the other was the least aggressive of all clones. These findings demonstrate the
existence of distinct, aggressive CSC-like populations in prostate cancer, but, importantly, that not
all cells having a potential for EMT exhibit stem cell-like properties. This unique model can be used to
further interrogate the biology of EMT in prostate cancer.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)