In vitro stemness characterization of radio-resistant clones isolated from a medulloblastoma cell line ONS-76

One-third of patients with medulloblastoma die due to recurrence after various treatments including radiotherapy. Although it has been postulated that cancer stem-like cells are radio-resistant and play an important role in tumor recurrence, the “stemness” of medulloblastoma cells surviving irradiation has not yet been elucidated. Using a medulloblastoma cell line ONS-76, cells that survived gamma irradiation were investigated on their “stemness” in vitro. From 10 500 cells, 20 radio-resistant clones were selected after gamma ray irradiation (5 Gy × two fractions) using the replica micro-well technique. These 20 resistant clones were screened for CD133 positivity by flow cytometry followed by side population assay, tumor sphere formation assay and clonogenic survival assay. Results revealed CD133 fractions were significantly elevated in three clones, which also exhibited significantly increased levels of tumor sphere formation ability and side population fraction. Clonogenic survival assay demonstrated that their radio-resistance was significantly higher than the parental ONS-76. This may support the hypothesis that a small number of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are the main culprits in local recurrence after radiotherapy, and disruption of the resistance mechanism of these CSCs is a critical future issue in improving the outcome of patients with medulloblastoma.