A dormant state modulated by osmotic pressure controls clonogenicity of prostate cancer cells.

ABSTRACT: Cell dormancy constitutes a limiting step of the metastatic process by preventing the proliferation of isolated cancer cells disseminated at distant sites from the primary tumor. The study of cancer cell dormancy is severely hampered by the lack of biological samples so that the mechanisms that regulate cell dormancy have not been extensively explored. In this work, we describe the rapid induction in vitro of a dormant state in prostate cancer cells by exposure to a slightly hypertonic growth medium. This quiescence is observed only when cells are seeded at low density and, once established, requires additional stimuli besides osmotic pressure to be reversed. Media conditioned by cells grown at high density can partially prevent or reverse dormancy, a phenomenon which can be reproduced wit

SUBMITTER: Havard M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3243505 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature