Establishment of a drug-resistant liver cancer cell line and its cancer stem cell characteristics

Objective To establish a drug-resistant liver cancer cell line and examine its cancer stem cell characteristics.Methods The drug-resistant cell line BEL-7404 was induced using a concentration gradient of adriamycin(ADM).Basic characteristics of the drug-resistant cell line were analyzed and compared to those of the parental cell line,such as cell growth,cell doubling time,cell cycle,resistance index(RI),single cell culture,colony formation and balloon cell culture.Results Similar to its parental cell line,the drug-resistant BEL-7404 line showed an epithelioid growth pattern,but with slightly more spindle cells.BEL-7404 cells had an RI of 292,and their cell proliferation rate was significantly slower than that of the parental cells,with increased cell doubling time and significantly lower rates of colony formation and balloon cell formation.Conclusions Sustained incremental exposure to low concentrations of ADM can induce a drug-resistant cell line,though the cancer stem cell characteristics of this line are not obvious.