Cancer Stemness Of Cd10-Positive Cells Regulated By Hedgehog Pathway Promotes The Resistance To Cisplatin In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective To explore the role of CD10 in cisplatin resistance of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its association with the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway and cancer stem cells (CSCs).Methods The correlation between cell viability and CD10 expression was analyzed in different OSCC cell lines after the cisplatin treatment. Genes related to chemotherapy resistance, cancer stem cells and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in CD10(high) and CD10(low) OSCC cells. Mouse xenograft model and venous metastasis model were used to explore the potential regulatory mechanism of the resistance effect of CD10 on cisplatin.Results The higher expression of CD10 gene in different cell lines displayed enhanced cisplatin resistance ability. The expression of genes related to chemotherapy resistance, cell stemness, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition was significantly higher in CD10(high) cells compared with CD10(low) cells. Moreover, the combination of cisplatin and Hh pathway inhibitors significantly reduced the resistance of CD10 to cisplatin in the xenograft model and venous metastasis models.Conclusion CD10-positive cells are implicated in developing cisplatin resistance of OSCC, which could be related to its cancer stem cell characteristics regulated by the Hedgehog pathway.