Abstract

The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is central to the pathogenesis and therapeutic target of human hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of casticin on epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT) of liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) derived from the SMMC7721 cell line. Our results demonstrated that CD133+ sphereforming cells (SFCs) sorted from the SMMC7721 cell line not only possessed a higher capacity to form tumor spheroids in vitro, but also had a greater 

 Casticin was purchased from Chengdu Biopurify Phytochemicals Ltd.