Cellular plasticity of trans- and dedifferentiation markers in human hepatoma cells in vitro and in vivo

Aims: Tumor cells have the capability to trans- and to dedifferentiate, for example by reactivating embryonic development genes and stem cell characteristics. The aim of our study was to show the differential expression of stem- and progenitor cell markers in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (HCC). Materials and Methods: Different human HCC cell lines (HUH7, HUH7 5–15, HUH7 pcDNA3.1, Hep3B and HepG2) were cultured under standard conditions in vitro or implanted subcutaneously (5×106 cells) in male NMRI mice. Specimens were characterized by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting, methylation specif…