ArticleCancer research2009
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 is a marker for normal and malignant human colonic stem cells (SC) and tracks SC overpopulation during colon tumorigenesis.
Article in Cancer research, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 579 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
579 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,027 citations in OpenAlex.
- Protein-Based Predictive Biomarkers to Personalize Neoadjuvant Therapy for Bladder Cancer-A Systematic Review of the Current Status.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- The metabolic addiction of cancer stem cells.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Aldehyde dehydrogenase serves as a biomarker for worse survival profiles in ovarian cancer patients: an updated meta-analysis.BMC women's health · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Inhibition of WNT signaling sensitizes CRC cells to anti-tumor effects of retinoids: basis for new drug combinations in oncology.Cancer biology & therapy · 2026Article
- Cancer Stem Cells in Colorectal Cancer: From Molecular Mechanisms to Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy Implications.Cancers · 2026Review
- Hesperidin and Hesperetin: Epigenetic-Stemness Crosstalk, Antitumor Mechanisms, Preclinical Data and Translation Barriers.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Cancer stem cell plasticity: mechanisms, immune microenvironment crosstalk, and therapeutic implications.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- Imbalance in WNT: retinoic acid signaling dysregulates HOX gene expression: implications for cancer stem cell heterogeneity and CRC patient survival.Stem cells translational medicine · 2026Article
- ALDH1a3 Protects Against Iron Overload-Induced Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Impairment in Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Identification of tumor initiating cells and early marker genes in histologically normal colonic mucosa that lead to neoplastic transformation.Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Molecular analysis of tumor recurrence using established cancer stem cell-line and drug discovery.International journal of clinical oncology · 2026Review
- Enrichment of colon cancer stem cells via polymeric porous filters with different zeta potentials.Regenerative biomaterials · 2026Article
- Article
- Review
- Identification of Phenotypically Distinct Cancer Stem Cell Subpopulations in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Cancers · 2025Article
- Identification of tumor initiating cells and early marker genes in normal colonic epithelium that lead to neoplastic transformation.Research square · 2025Article
- Clinical significance of ALDH1A1 and Ki67 expression in women with breast carcinoma.Histology and histopathology · 2025Article
- Crosstalk between GLTSCR1-deficient endothelial cells and tumour cells promotes colorectal cancer development by activating the Notch pathway.Cell death and differentiation · 2025Article
519 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Although the concept that cancers originate from stem cells (SC) is becoming scientifically accepted, mechanisms by which SC contribute to tumor initiation and progression are largely unknown. For colorectal cancer (CRC), investigation of this problem has been hindered by a paucity of specific markers for identification and isolation of SC from normal and malignant colon. Accordingly, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) was investigated as a possible marker for identifying colonic SC and for tracking them during cancer progression. Immunostaining showed that ALDH1(+) cells are sparse and limited to the normal crypt bottom, where SCs reside. During progression from normal epithelium to mutant (APC) epithelium to adenoma, ALDH1(+) cells increased in number and became distributed farther up the crypt. CD133(+) and CD44(+) cells, which are more numerous and broadly distributed in normal crypts, showed similar changes during tumorigenesis. Flow cytometric isolation of cancer cells based on enzymatic activity of ALDH (Aldefluor assay) and implantation of these cells in nonobese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficient mice (a) generated xenograft tumors (Aldefluor(-) cells did not), (b) generated them after implanting as few as 25 cells, and (c) generated them dose dependently. Further isolation of cancer cells using a second marker (CD44(+) or CD133(+) serially) only modestly increased enrichment based on tumor-initiating ability. Thus, ALDH1 seems to be a specific marker for identifying, isolating, and tracking human colonic SC during CRC development. These findings also support our original hypothesis, derived previously from mathematical modeling of crypt dynamics, that progressive colonic SC overpopulation occurs during colon tumorigenesis and drives CRC development.
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