Transformation of Barrett's esophagus stem cell, gastric cardia stem cells and normal esophagus stem cells

Barrett’s esophagus confers significant risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. We have established the cloning of patient-matched stem cells of Barrett’s, gastric, and esophageal epithelium. Transplantation of transformed Barrett’s stem cells yielded tumors with hallmarks of esophageal adenocarcinoma, whereas transformed esophageal stem cells produced squamous cell carcinomas. These findings define a stem cell target in a precancerous lesion for preemptive therapies. The cloned patient-matched stem cells of Barrett’s, gastric, and esophageal epithelium were transformed with retroviral infection of hTERT, SV40 and c-myc and then subcutaneously transplanted into highly immunocompromised NSG (NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ) mice. Isolated tumors from transformed Barrett’s (3 patients), gastric (1 patient), and esophageal epithelium (1 patient) stem cells were collected and total RNA was isolated. We used Affymetrix chips (HG-U133_Plus_2).