CD133 expression is not restricted to stem cells, and both CD133⁺ and CD133^– metastatic colon cancer cells initiate tumors
J. Clin. Invest. Sergey V. Shmelkov, et al. 118:2111 doi:10.1172/JCI34401 [Go to this article.]

Figure 5
CD133 is expressed ubiquitously in all malignant cells of both human and mouse primary colon tumors. (A–D) CD133 expression on human primary colon cancer epithelium is shown by anti-CD133 antibody (A and B) and anti-EpCAM antibody (D); the negative IgG control is shown in C. Note the broad expression of CD133 in all malignant epithelial cells. CD133 protein expression is localized to the apical region of the columnar colonic cancer cells in primary human tumors. (E–H) CD133 expression in primary colon tumor of Il10^–/–CD133^lacZ mice. H&E staining (E and F) shows the site of the primary tumor in the murine colon; X-gal (G) and anti-EpCAM (H) antibody immunostaining corroborate the human primary colon cancer data. Note the broad expression of CD133 in all transformed epithelial cells in the Il10^–/–CD133^lacZ mice as shown by the lacZ reporter. Scale bar: 50 μm.