Sarcoma Stem Cells: Do We Know What We Are Looking for?
Table 1
Techniques used to isolate sarcoma-initiating cells.
Technique
Description
Surface markers (e.g., CD133)
Cells are incubated with fluorescent antibodies to specific surface markers. Flow-cytometry is used to isolate cells expressing surface marker
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH)
Cells are incubated with reagent that is activated to fluorescent state by ALDH. Flow-cytometry is used to isolate the cells with the most ALDH activity
Side population analysis (dye exclusion)
Cells are incubated with a fluorescent dye such as Hoechst 33342. Flow-cytometry is used to select the population that excludes the dye, referred to as the “side population,” because of its location on the left-most portion of the flowplot