Side population cells isolated from KATO III human gastric cancer cell line have cancer stem cell-like characteristics

Figure 1 Side population and non-side population cells from several human gastric cancer cell lines were analyzed through uptake of the DNA binding dye Hoechst33342 with or without the presence of verapamil. NSP: Non-side population; SP: Side population.

Figure 2 Soft agar assays and fluorescence for KATO III-green fluorescent protein cells. A: Side population (SP) cells (A-2) were more clonogenic than non-side population (NSP) cells (A-1); B: The assay was repeated 3 times, and the column diagram indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in clonogenic efficiency between SP and NSP cells (^aP < 0.05 vs NSP cells); C: KATO III-green fluorescent protein (GFP) cells expressed strong green fluorescence in regular culture, with no mixed colonies resulting from a single KATO III-GFP cell. C-1 was observed under white light, while C-2 was observed under fluorescent light.

Figure 3 Serial sphere assays. A: The assay was repeated 3 times, and the column diagram indicated a statistically significant difference in clonogenic efficiency between non-side population (NSP) and side population (SP) cells in primary and secondary sphere assays (^aP < 0.05 vs NSP cells); however, there was no significant difference between primary and secondary sphere assays; B: Sphere assay for NSP cells; C: Sphere assay for SP cells.

Figure 4 Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, adenosine-triphosphate-binding cassette sub-family G member 2, multidrug resistance protein 1, B-cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion site 1 and octamer-binding transcription factor 4 RNA expression of side population and non-side population cells isolated from KATO III by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. SP: Side population; NSP: Non-side population; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; ABCG2: Adenosine-triphosphate-binding cassette sub-family G member 2; MDR1: Multidrug resistance protein 1; Bmi-1: B-cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion site 1; Oct-4: Octamer-binding transcription factor 4.