AUTHOR=Karim Baktiar O. , Rhee Ki-Jong , Liu Guosheng , Yun Kyuson , Brant Steven R. 

TITLE=Prom1 Function in Development, Intestinal Inflammation, and Intestinal Tumorigenesis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2014.00323

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2014.00323

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Prom1/CD133</italic> has been identified in colorectal, hepatocellular, and pancreatic cancer as a cancer stem cell marker and has been used as such to predict colon cancer recurrence in humans. Its potential molecular function as well as its role as a marker of intestinal regeneration is still not fully known. We evaluated the role of <italic>Prom1</italic> in intestinal regeneration in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), determined the function of <italic>Prom1</italic>, and characterized the effect of a lack of <italic>Prom1</italic> on intestinal tumor formation in animal models. Our results suggest that <italic>Apc</italic> mutations lead to an increase in <italic>Prom1</italic> expressing cells in the intestinal crypt stem cell compartment and in early intestinal adenomas. Also, <italic>Prom1</italic> knockout mice are more susceptible to intestinal tumor formation. We conclude that <italic>Prom1</italic> likely plays a role in regulating intestinal homeostasis and that these results clearly illustrate the role of <italic>Prom1</italic> in intestinal regeneration. We further conclude that <italic>Prom1</italic> may provide a novel therapeutic target for patients with gastrointestinal conditions such as IBD, short bowel syndrome, and colorectal cancer.</p>