Figure 1.
SOX2- and SOX9-Positive Cells Are the Sphere-Forming Cells
(A and B) SOX2-EGFP and SOX9-IRES-GFP alleles faithfully recapitulate SOX2 (A) and SOX9 (B) expression in the pituitary. Note that SOX2-EGFP is not present in cells where SOX2 staining is cytoplasmic (arrows).
(C and D) FAC sorting of 3 week-old Sox2EGFP/+ and 4-week-old Sox9iresGFP/iresGFP.
(E and F) Spheres are observed in SOX2-EGFP and SOX9-IRES-GFP-positive fractions (bright field and live fluorescence).
(G and H) Spheres obtained from SOX2-positive cells (G, DAPI and immunofluorescence for GFP and anterior pituitary hormones) and SOX9-positive cells (H, DAPI and immunofluorescence for GFP and all anterior pituitary hormones) are able to give rise to hormonal cells in differentiating conditions.
Scale bars: 50 μm for (A) and (B) and 5 μm for (G) and (H). See also Figure S1.