一种新型干细胞--侧群细胞

侧群细胞(side population cell)是利用Hoechst染料和流式细胞术进行造血千／祖细胞分离时发现的一群特殊细胞,广泛分布于多种成体组织、胚胎和某些肿瘤细胞系中;它既具有类似千细胞的自我更新和多向分化潜能,还具有独特的表型标记和生物学特征,代表了一种新的千细胞类型。对侧群细胞的研究,不仅有助于人们增加对千细胞增殖、分化及其发育调控机制的理解,同时还提供了一种从不同组织中分离纯化和利用多能干细胞的新策略,为组织工程和细胞治疗提供新的千细胞材料来源。现就侧群细胞的组织分布、生物学特征、表型标记、信号转导机制及其与肿瘤发生相关性等方面的研究进展进行了综述,并对侧群细胞的进一步研究和应用作了展望。

Side Population Cell: A Novel Stem Cell

Side population cell represent a rare fraction which is detected by dual-wavelength flow cytometry on the basis of the ability to efflux fluorescent Hoechst 33342 dye. They have been identified in hemato- poietic compartments of mice, human, monkeys, swine and in nonhematopoietic tissues including skeletal muscle, brain, neuron, lung, pancreas and so on. More recently, they also have been found in some embryos and tumor cell lines. Side population cell, acting as a new type of stem cell for the activities such as self-renewal, unlimited proliferation and potential of differentiating into various cells, can be enriched for conserved phenotype molecular marker ABCG2/Bcrp1. Identification of the molecular marker will best facilitate the isolation and characterization of stem cell population. This important novel stem cell can be widely served as a material for research and application. Our review will focus on the distribution, biological characteristics, phenotype molecular marker, signal transduc- tion mechanism of side population cell. The relationship between side population cell and the risk of tumor genesis will also be concerned.