Colon adenocarcinoma-derived cells that express induced-pluripotent stem cell markers possess stem cell function.

CA-derived primary cell lines contain tumorsphere-forming cells which express key pluripotency genes and can differentiate down 3 embryonic lineages, suggesting a pluripotent CSC-like phenotype. There appear to be two iPSC-like subpopulations, one with high EpCAM expression which forms larger tumorspheres than another with low EpCAM expression. Furthermore, these cells can be characterized based on iPSC marker expression, as we have previously demonstrated in the original CA tumor tissues.