Comparison of functional characterization of cancer stem cells in different tumor tissues of pseudomyxoma peritonei.

Background: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare malignant peritoneal tumor that readily recurs and metastasizes. Studies have shown that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play an important role in tumor recurrence, metastasis, and prognosis.

Objective: In this study, our aim was to isolate CSCs from various tissues of PMP patients and compare their proliferation, migration, and anti-inflammatory abilities.

Methods: We identified CSCs subsets with markers CD133⁺, CD166⁺, and CD133⁺/CD166⁺ at the gene level using single-cell mRNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Appendiceal CSCs (AC), peritoneal CSCs (PC), and mucous CSCs (MC) were obtained using MACSQuant Tyto sorting technology and FlowSight imaging flow cytometry. The cells were cultured and markers were identified. Finally, the functional phenotypes of the three cell types were compared.

Results: CSCs content was highest in the appendiceal tumor tissue and lowest in the mucous tissue. The cell viability rate of the sorted CSCs was above 98%, and the positive rate of CD133⁺ and CD166⁺ was 70-80%, and CD133⁺/CD166⁺ was about 30%. Among the three types of CSCs, MC had the highest proliferation ability, and TNF-α has the greatest inhibitory effect on AC migration.

Conclusion: AC in patients was more inert and anti-inflammatory, whereas abdominal cavity MC and PC were more active. This study revealed the biological characteristics of CSCs in different tumor tissues of patients with PMP, providing a reference for future targeted CSCs therapy.