Figure 1.

E2, TGF-β1 and hypoxia treatment increased the CD44⁺/CD24^−/low population of MCF-7 cells. (A) Schematic representation of the experimental procedure. (B-F) Representative FACS stained images. The FACS analysis was performed using specific cell-surface markers for basal (CD44-allophycocyanin) and luminal (CD24-phycoerythrin) epithelial cells, and the percentage of CD44⁺/CD24^−/low cells in each condition was assessed. The ratio of CD44⁺/CD24^−/low cells in E2 (10 nM), TGF-β1 (1 ng/ml) and hypoxia (1% O₂) treated MCF-7 cells is indicated. E2, estradiol; TGF-β1, transforming growth factor-β1; CD, cluster of differentiation; FACS, fluorescence-activated cell sorting.