Aim: To observe the expression of let-7 in breast cancer stem cells and explore the role of let-7 in maintaining the characteristics of breast cancer stem cells.
Methods: We separated breast cancer stem cells (SP and NSP) from MCF-7 cell line using SP sorting, and observed the expression of let-7a/b/c on SP and NSP cells using quantitative real-time PCR and the expressions of Ras and ERK using Western blotting to study the mechanism by which let-7 maintains the characteristics of breast cancer stem cells.
Results: The SP cells accounted for 3.3% in MCF-7 cells, however, the rate dropped to 0.4% when verapamil was added into the process of seperation. The level of Let-7a/b/c in SP cells were lower than that in NSP cells, and among let-7 miRNAs, let-7b/c showed the most obvious difference. The expressions of t-Ras and t-ERK showed no difference between SP and NSP cells, nevertheless, the expressions of p-Ras, p-ERK were higher in SP cells than in NSP cells.
Conclusion: SP sorting is an effective method to separate cancer stem cells. There do exist cancer stem cells in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Let-7 is down-regulated in SP cells, and the down-regulation makes let-7 lose the opportunity to restrain Ras mRNA, finally, p-Ras and p-ERK are activated. They play an important role in maintaining the characteristics of breast cancer stem cells.