Table 1 Surface markers used for the identification of CSCs

CD133

Expressed in various cell types and tissue sites, especially proliferating cells

Breast, colon, brain, liver, lung, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate

^48,206,227

CD44

Broadly on multiple tissues

Bladder, breast, colon, brain, gastric, head and neck, leukemia, liver, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate

^48,206,228

CD90

T cells; neurons

Breast, brain, liver, and lung

^48,206,229

CD34

Hematopoietic and endothelial progenitors

Hematopoietic malignancies

²³⁰

CD24

Broadly on B cells; neuroblasts

Breast, colon, liver, ovarian, and pancreatic

^48,159

CD38

Multiple stages of B and T cells

Negative on leukemia stem cell

²³¹

CD71

Broadly on multiple tissues

Negative on gastric stem cell

²³²

CD15/SSEA-1

Myeloid cells; adult neural stem/progenitor cells

Brain and melanoma

^59,233

CD54/ICAM1

Endothelial cells; pneumocytes; lymphoid cells

Gastric, liver, and esophageal

^232,234

CD166/ALCAM

Membranous expression in various tissue

Colon, lung, melanoma, and prostate

^235,236,237

CD177

Bone marrow, intestine, and lymphoid tissue

Lung, leukemia, and ovarian

^238,239

ALDH1A1

Broadly on multiple tissues

Bladder, breast, colon, brain, gastric, head and neck, lung, pancreatic, and prostate

^48,190

ABCG2

Broadly on multiple tissues

Brain, head and neck, lung, melanoma, osteosarcoma, and prostate

²⁴⁰

ABCB5

Keratinocyte progenitors

Melanoma

²⁴¹

EpCAM

Pan-epithelial marker

Breast, colon, lung, and pancreatic

²⁰⁶

LGR5

Broadly on multiple tissues

Breast, colon, gastric, and head and neck

⁴⁸

BMI-1

Broadly on multiple tissues

Breast, brain, head and neck, leukemia, pancreatic, and prostate

^242,243

Integrin α6

Broadly on multiple tissues

Breast, prostate, and brain

^244,245

CXCR4

Broadly on multiple tissues

Renal, breast, brain, and pancreatic

^48,246

Nestin

Nerve cells; neural stem cell

Melanoma, brain, osteosarcoma, ovarian, and prostate

^247,248,249