title: Studies on expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase in normal and cancerous tissues of thyroids.
abstract: Recently published articles have reported the controversial data regarding expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase isozyme 1A1 (ALDH1A1), a potential candidate marker for normal and cancer stem cells (CSCs), in thyroid tissues. These data prompted us to re-evaluate expression of ALDH1A1 in normal and cancerous thyroid tissues by 2 different means. The first method was immunohistochemistry with 2 different anti-ALDH1A1 antibodies from distinct companies. Following validating the integrity of these 2 antibodies by Western blotting with ALDH-expressing and nonexpressing cancer cell lines and immunohistochemistry with breast and colon tissues, we report here significant and comparable expression of ALDH1A1 in both normal and cancerous thyroid tissues with both antibodies. Next, relative expression levels of ALDH isozymes were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), revealing that ALDH1A1 was the most highly expressed isozyme followed by ALDH9A1 and relative expression patterns of isozymes were very similar in normal and cancerous tissues. All these data demonstrate that thyroid cells of normal and cancer origins do express ALDH1A1 and to a lesser extent 9A1. Further study will be necessary to study functional significance of ALDH1A1 in the function and behaviors of thyroid normal and cancer stem cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurashige
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Medical Science, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitsutake
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Medical Science, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuse
authors.affiliation: Department of Tumor and Diagnostic Pathology, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagayama
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000201:enzymology*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; C510223:ALDH1A1 protein, human; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase