Figure 6

Downregulation of β-catenin results in reduction of CD44 positive cells in spheroids/colonospheres and inhibits regeneration of colonospheres. A. Flow cytometric analysis shows CD44 positive cells in HCT-116 colonospheres following 72 hrs of transfection with β-catenin siRNA or the vector; corresponding isotypes are also shown, values represent percentage of cells that are positive for CD44-PE-Cy7. B. Western blot showing downregulation of β-catenin and CD44 following 72 hrs of transfection of β-catenin-siRNA, compared to the vector-control in HCT-116 colonospheres-derived cells. C. Colonosphere formation assay shows decreased regeneration of colonospheres by β-catenin-knockdown HCT-116 colonospheres cells. The numbers represent percent of corresponding control normalized to β-actin. *p < 0.001, compared to the corresponding vector-treated controls