In primary human colon tumors, all of the epithelial cells also expressed CD133, whereas metastatic colon cancers isolated from liver had distinct CD133+ and CD133- epithelial populations.
Results of a phase I pilot clinical trial examining the effect of plant-derived resveratrol and grape powder on Wnt pathway target gene expression in colonic mucosa and colon cancer.
Although CD133(+) cells are believed to display more CSC-like behavior and be solely responsible for tumor colonization, recent research indicates that CD133(-) cells from metastatic colon tumors not only also possess colonization capacity but also promote the growth of larger tumors in a mouse model than CD133(+) cells, suggesting that an alternative mechanism of metastasis exists.
We used immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to compare expression of mitochondrial peroxiredoxin 3 (PRX3) in CD133(+)CD44(+) Lgr5(+)cells (CSCs) vs CD133(-)CD44(-)Lgr5(-) colon tumor cells (non-CSCs).