Figure 4From: ABCG2, a novel antigen to sort luminal progenitors of BRCA1- breast cancer cellsCD338 expression discriminates cells with stemness properties and transformation potential. (a) Mammosphere formation assay. CD338high, CD338low and CD338- sorted sub-populations of HCC1937 cells were plated in ultra-low adherent conditions at a low density to generate mammospheres. Upper (I), central (II) and lower (III) panels show the results of the first-, second- and third-generation mammospheres, respectively. Results are expressed as mammosphere-forming efficiency (MFE, number of mammospheres/number of wells) ± SD of triplicates. (b) Soft agar colony formation assay. CD338high, CD338low, and CD338- cells were sorted out from HCC1937 cells and tested for their ability to generate colonies on soft-agar. The number of colonies observed after 4 weeks are indicated for 5 × 104 plated cells ± SD of triplicates.Back to article page