Fig. 4

MCT-1 promotes MDA-MB-231 breast cancer stemness. (a) MDA-MB-231 sphere formation at day 10 was studied in different MCT-1 circumstances (control vs. MCT-1; scramble vs. shMCT-1#3). Mammospheroids (≧50 μm in diameter) were measured. The mRNA levels of the indicated gene were quantified by qRT-PCR in day 10–14 mammospheres. (b) MCT-1. (c) CD44. (d) CD133. (e) ALDH-1. (f) Oct4. (G) Nanog. (h) Sox2. (i) Snail. (j) CD24. (k) Flow cytometry was used to evaluate CD44(+)/CD24(−) subpopulations in the mammospheres. The results are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 3). One-way ANOVA with a post hoc two-tailed t-test was used to calculate the statistical significance of pairwise comparisons. (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001) (l) Nanog, Sox2, EpCAM and Snail proteins were evaluated in the mammospheres. Relative protein amounts were compared with the controls. Different blots with normalized internal control were used to present the data of the experiment