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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data All Versions of this Article: 2007-0639v1 26/3/698    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Huttner, H. B. Articles by Corbeil, D. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Huttner, H. B. Articles by Corbeil, D.

CANCER STEM CELLS

The Stem Cell Marker Prominin-1/CD133 on Membrane Particles in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid Offers Novel Approaches for Studying Central Nervous System Disease

Departments of ^aNeurology,
^dNeuropathology, and
^fNeurosurgery, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany;
^bTissue Engineering Laboratories (Biotec) and
Departments of ^ePediatrics,
^gNeurosurgery, and
^hNeurology, University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany;
^cDepartment of Neurology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;
ⁱMax-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

Key Words. Glioma • Human hematopoietic stem cells • Malignancy • Nervous system • Somatic stem cells

Correspondence: Denis Corbeil, Ph.D., Tissue Engineering Laboratories, Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC), Technische Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47-51, 01307 Dresden, Germany. Telephone: 49-351-463-40118; Fax: 49-351-463-40244; e-mail: denis.corbeil{at}biotec.tu-dresden.de; Hagen B. Huttner, M.D., Department of Neurology, University of Erlangen, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany. Telephone: 49-9131-8534563; Fax: 49-9131-8531160; e-mail: hagen.huttner{at}uk-erlangen.de

Received August 6, 2007; accepted for publication December 11, 2007.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   December 20, 2007.



Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is routinely used for diagnosing and monitoring neurological diseases. The CSF proteins used so far for diagnostic purposes (except for those associated with whole cells) are soluble. Here, we show that human CSF contains specific membrane particles that carry prominin-1/CD133, a neural stem cell marker implicated in brain tumors, notably glioblastoma. Differential and equilibrium centrifugation and detergent solubility analyses showed that these membrane particles were similar in physical properties and microdomain organization to small membrane vesicles previously shown to be released from neural stem cells in the mouse embryo. The levels of membrane particle-associated prominin-1/CD133 declined during childhood and remained constant thereafter, with a remarkably narrow range in healthy adults. Glioblastoma patients showed elevated levels of membrane particle-associated prominin-1/CD133, which decreased dramatically in the final stage of the disease. Hence, analysis of CSF for membrane particles carrying the somatic stem cell marker prominin-1/CD133 offers a novel approach for studying human central nervous system disease.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.