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Bone Abstracts (2013) 1 PP134 | DOI: 10.1530/boneabs.1.PP134

ECTS2013 Poster Presentations Cancer and bone: basic, translational and clinical (31 abstracts)

Isolation of ALDH1high cells by flow cytometry and investigation of the expression pattern of Wnt pathway genes in primary chordoma cell lines

Birgit Lohberger 1 , Nicole Stuendl 1 , Katharina Meditz 2 , Bernadette Liegl 3 , Andreas Leithner 1 & Beate Rinner 2


1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; 2Center for Medical Research, Core Facility Flow Cytometry, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; 3Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.


Chordomas are rare, low to intermediate grade malignant bone tumors of the axial skeleton. Current treatment options are limited to surgical procedures as chordomas are largely resistant to conventional radiation and chemotherapy. Cell lines are valuable tools to explore molecular mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis and they have a fundamental impact on the development of new anticancer agents. We established a novel chordoma cell-line, MUG-Chor1, from a recurrent morphologically ‘classic’ sacrococcygeal chordoma of a 58-year-old Caucasian female.

In this current study, we first used the Aldefluor assay (Stemcell Technologies) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis to assess the presence and size of the cell population with ALDH1A1 enzymatic activity in three primary chordoma cell lines. ALDH1high chordoma cells range from 0.35±0.34% (UCh1) to 1.39±0.56% (MUG-Chor1; n=10) of gated cells. ALDH1high and ALDH1low cells differed significantly in logarithmic growth velocity measured in a label-free real-time cell electronic sensing assay (RT-CES).

By investigating of important regulators of stem cell biology, the pluripotent stem cell proteome profiler array and real-time RT-PCR data showed an increased expression of SOX-2, SOX-17, E-cadherine, oct3/4, and goosecoid (GCS) in the ALDH1high population. In the analysis of genes, which play an important role in the Wnt pathway, a significant difference in the expression of six genes between ALDH1high and ALDH1low cells could be demonstrated.

We have successfully used the Aldefluor assay for the isolation of ALDH1high and ALDH1low chordoma cells and showed significant differences in cell proliferation properties and the expression pattern of stem cell- and Wnt pathway genes.

Volume 1

European Calcified Tissue Society Congress 2013

Lisbon, Portugal
18 May 2013 - 22 May 2013

European Calcified Tissue Society 

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