Aldehyde dehydrogenase activity is a cancer stem cell marker of tongue squamous cell carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Accumulating data reveal that aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is a cancer stem cell marker in several types of human cancers. Whether ALDH also defines cancer stem cells of tongue squamous cell carcinoma is unknown. In the present study, we performed the Aldefluor assay to detect ALDH enzymatic activity, and used flow cytometry to isolate ALDH+ and ALDH- cells based on their ALDH activity in the Tca8113 tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line. We found that Tca8113 cells harbored 1.3% of ALDH+ cells, which exhibited higher proliferation capacity than their ALDH- counterparts and parental cells. Sorted ALDH+ cells were able to differentiate and generate ALDH- cells in vitro. Moreover, in serum-free medium, ALDH+, but not ALDH- cells, survived and formed tumorspheres. The suppression

SUBMITTER: Zou B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3493091 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature