Description
Tumors consist of heterogeneous cell population, containing cancer cell subpopulations with anticancer drug-resistant property, called “persister” cells. To reveal the character of the persister cells, we analyzed gene expression profile of patient-derived gastric cells and residual cancer cells after treatment with 5-FU or SN38, an active metabolite of irinotecan. In our study, we identified ALDH1A3 as a marker and a cell proliferation factor of persister cells. To examine molecular pathways regulated by ALDH1A3, we analyzed gene expression profile of patient-derived gastric JSC15-3 in which ALDH1A3 was knocked down by using shRNAs.