Differential Effects of Drugs Targeting Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) and Non-CSC Populations on Lung Primary Tumors and Metastasis
Figure 1
The ALDH+ LLC cell population displays CSC-like characteristics.
A. The ALDH+ cell fraction (measured by Aldefluor assays) represents ∼11% of total cells in the LLC cell line. B. Isolated LLC ALDH+ cells possess self-renewal ability as shown by their capacity to generate both ALDH+/− populations after 8 days in culture, while ALDH− cells only give rise to negative cells. C. Number of clones generated by LLC ALDH+ and ALDH− cells after sorting. The ALDH+ population shows higher clonogenic capacity than their negative counterpart. D. Number of spheres generated by LLC ALDH+/− cells. E. qRT-PCR analysis of ALDH1A1 mRNA levels in LLC cells cultured in adherent conditions, primary spheres (S1) and spheres of second generation (S2). F. Chemoresistance to paclitaxel of LLC grown in either adherent conditions or in spheres (S1) was measured with an MTT assay. IC50 for adherent LLC cells: 35.8 nM; IC50 for LLC S1 spheres: >93.6 nM. Data and error bars: mean ± SD. *p<0.05. **p<0.01. ***p<0.001. All the experiments were repeated at least 3 independent times (each of them in triplicates).