TY - JOUR
T1 - Aldehyde dehydrogenase its role as a cancer stem cell marker comes down to the specific isoform
AU - Marcato, Paola
AU - Dean, Cheryl A.
AU - Giacomantonio, Carman A.
AU - Lee, Patrick W.K.
PY - 2011/5/1
Y1 - 2011/5/1
N2 - Recent evidence suggests that enhanced aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is a hallmark of cancer stem cells (CSC) measurable by the aldefluor assay. ALDH1A1, one of 19 ALDH isoforms expressed in humans, was generally believed to be responsible for the ALDH activity of CSCs. More recently, experiments with murine hematopoietic stem cells, murine progenitor pancreatic cells and human breast CSCs indicate that other ALDH isoforms, particularly ALDH1A3, significantly contribute to aldefluor positivity, which may be tissue and cancer specific. Therefore, potential prognostic application involving the use of CSC prevalence in tumor tissue to predict patient outcome requires the identification and quantification of specific ALDH isoforms. Herein we review the suggested roles of ALDH in CSC biology and the immunohistological studies testing the potential application of ALDH isoforms as novel cancer prognostic indicators.
AB - Recent evidence suggests that enhanced aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is a hallmark of cancer stem cells (CSC) measurable by the aldefluor assay. ALDH1A1, one of 19 ALDH isoforms expressed in humans, was generally believed to be responsible for the ALDH activity of CSCs. More recently, experiments with murine hematopoietic stem cells, murine progenitor pancreatic cells and human breast CSCs indicate that other ALDH isoforms, particularly ALDH1A3, significantly contribute to aldefluor positivity, which may be tissue and cancer specific. Therefore, potential prognostic application involving the use of CSC prevalence in tumor tissue to predict patient outcome requires the identification and quantification of specific ALDH isoforms. Herein we review the suggested roles of ALDH in CSC biology and the immunohistological studies testing the potential application of ALDH isoforms as novel cancer prognostic indicators.
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U2 - 10.4161/cc.10.9.15486
DO - 10.4161/cc.10.9.15486
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21552008
AN - SCOPUS:79955593909
SN - 1538-4101
VL - 10
SP - 1378
EP - 1384
JO - Cell Cycle
JF - Cell Cycle
IS - 9
ER -