Characterization of Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Stem Cells

Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) is propagated by cancer stem cells which are identified by their ability to efflux dye and hence reside in the side population (SP) on FACS analysis. In order to understand the origins of these ALCL SP cells we purified SP and main population (MP; SP-depleted) cell from the ALCL cell lines. On comparison of the gene expression signatures derived from these 2 cellular populations distinct branches dividing the SP and MP populations present indicating that they are distinct subsets within the bulk tumour. SP and MP cells from human Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) cell lines was selected RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. We sought to obtain pure populations of SP and MP cells. Cells were stained with Hoechst 33342 dye and were analysed on FACS. The cells were then sorted in triplicates and subjected to RNA extraction.