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. 2011 Dec 29;16(1):160–173. doi: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2011.01282.x

Fig 5.

Fig 5

IL-6 is involved in HCC stem cells survival. (A) Total RNA was extracted and IL-6 expression was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. *P < 0.05 when compared with Control siRNA group. (B, C) Oct-4+CD133+ and Oct-4−CD133− HCC stem cells were seeded in 96-well plates (10,000 per well) in specific medium with 20% FBS with sorafenib (B) and doxorubicin (C, 10 μM). Cells were incubated for 7 days in a humidified incubator at 37°C, after which the total number of colonies was labelled by Calcein AM (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA) and quantified fluorometrically. Colony survival rate of Oct-4+CD133+ and Oct-4−CD133− HCC stem cells were shown after 7-day exposure to sorafenib and doxorubicin (10 μM) in soft agar. The surrogate cancer stem cell assay has demonstrated that silencing IL-6 significantly reduced transformed HCC cancer stem cell survival rate.