Puerarin 6″-O-xyloside suppresses growth, self-renewal and invasion of lung cancer stem-like cells derived from A549 cells via regulating Akt/c-Myc signalling.

Cancer stem cells have been identified as the major cause of cancer initiation and progression. To investigate the effects of puerarin 6″-O-xyloside (PXY), derived from Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, on lung cancer stem cells, we enriched and identified a subpopulation of lung cancer stem-like cells (LCSLCs) derived from lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells with traits including high self-renewal and invasive capability in vitro, elevated tumourigenicity in vivo, and high expression of stem cell markers CD44, CD133 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1). We found that PXY could impair cell viability, suppress self-renewal and invasive capability, and decrease CD133, CD44 and ALDH1 mRNA expression in LCSLCs in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we showed that PXY suppressed the self-renewal and invasive capability of LCSLCs at least in part through suppressing the activation of Akt/c-Myc signalling. In conclusion, PXY can block the traits of LCSLCs, indicating that PXY may be a candidate compound for lung adenocarcinoma therapy via eliminating LCSLCs.