Fig. 8.

Sox9-EGFP Low and High cells isolated at 5 days postirradiation possess enhanced ability to form organoids in vitro. Organoid cultures were performed on FACS-isolated cells from nonirradiated mice or at day 5 postradiation and were monitored at 2-day intervals between day 4 (D4) and day 12 (D12) after plating. Representative photographs show Sox9-EGFP Sublow cells from nonirradiated or irradiated mice (A), Sox9-EGFP Low cells from nonirradiated or irradiated mice (B), and Sox9-EGFP High cells isolated at day 5 postradiation (C) (bright field; scale bar 200 μm). D: histograms show quantitative data (mean ± SE) for the number of organoids formed by the 3 different Sox9-EGFP-sorted cell populations at each time point divided by the initial number of plated cells ×100 (n ≥ 3; ^aP < 0.05 vs. nonirradiated). Sox9-EGFP Low and High cells isolated from irradiated mice exhibited significantly greater ability to form organoids compared with nonirradiated controls.