Dr. Fukamachi from Japan stays in AMC, Korea: Part3
A3 Foresight Program: Collaborative Research on the Role of Epigenetic Pathway in Gastric Carcinogenesis
Report of a visit to AMC in Korea (November 29 to December 11, 2010)
HIROSHI FUKAMACHI (Department of Molecular Oncology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University)
Host researcher
Prof. Se Jin Jang (Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine)
Summary
I visited once again Prof. Se Jin Jang’ s laboratory (Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul) in Korea, and examined mice into which FACS-sorted cells were subcutaneously injected in my previous visit in August. I also carried out additional experiments to identify gastric tumor-initiating cells using freshly dissected gastric tumor specimens. This time we could not get good results partly because there was a technical problem in my last experiment. During my stay in AMC, I visited Dr. Yong Sung Kim’s laboratory at Medical Genomics Research Center, KRIBB in Daejeon to discuss with him on collaborative research. I deeply thank Prof. Se Jin Jang, Dr. Hyang Sook Seol and other members of AMC for giving me a chance to do experiment in a wonderful institute.
1. Background
As described in my previous reports (“Dr. Fukamachi from Japan stays in AMC, Korea”, and “Dr. Fukamachi from Japan stays in AMC, Korea: Part2”), we have been trying to identify tumor-initiating cells in newly-dissected human gastric tumors. A purpose of my visit was to examine whether tumors were formed in mice into which FACS-sorted tumor cells were subcutaneously injected in my last experiment in August. Another purpose was to carry out additional experiments to increase the number of results to obtain statistically significant difference, in collaboration with researchers in AMC including Professor Jang and Dr. Seol.
2. The experiment in AMC.
This time, we could not get good results showing a significant difference between marker-expressing and non-expressing cells on their tumorigenicity in NOD-Scid mice. This may be possibly because there was a technical problem in preparing antibodies in our last experiment in August. We therefore repeated the experiment with newly-prepared antibodies. We hope that we can soon identify gastric tumor-initiating cells with this method.
3. Discussion with researchers in KRIBB
I visited Dr. Yong Sung Kim’s laboratory at Medical Genomics Research Center, Korea Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology in Daejeon to discuss with Dr. Kim and his laboratory members to do collaborative research with them.
4. Acknowledgments
I deeply thank Prof. Jang and Dr. Seol for their help and kindness during my stay in AMC. A skilled help by Ms. Hey-Jin Jeung, Asan Life Science Laboratory in analyzing cell surface antigens by FACS is also acknowledged.
