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. 2018 Feb 16;9(18):14481–14491. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.24520

Figure 2. Calcitriol decreases tumorigenic CSCs in the ovarian cancer cell population.

Figure 2

(a) Treatment with calcitriol at 5 nM does not affect cell viability of 2008 cells. 2008 cells were treated with calcitriol at different doses, colony formation assay was conducted to determine the toxicity of calcitriol to cells. N = 3, bar: SD, *: P < 0.05. (b, c) Calcitriol treatment reduces the CSC population in ovarian cancer cells cultured in vitro. 2008 cells were treated with either vehicle (ethanol) or calcitriol (5 nM) for 5 days, FACS was performed to analyze the percentage of CD44+CD117+ cells. Representative dot plots (b) and corresponding graphs (c) of FACS analysis were shown. N = 3, Bar: SD, **: P < 0.01. (d) Calcitriol treatment reduces the sphere formation capacity of ovarian cancer cells. 2008 cells were treated with either vehicle (ethanol) or calcitriol (5 nM) for 5 days, the sphere formation capacity was determined using the sphere formation assay. N = 3, Bar: SD; **: P < 0.01. (e, f) Calcitriol treatment reduces the TICf of ovarian cancer cells. 2008 cells were treated with either vehicle (ethanol) or calcitriol (5 nM) for 5 days, cells were injected into NOD/SCID mice subcutaneously with different cell doses (4 injections per dose). The tumor take was recorded after 4 weeks, and the TICf was calculated. Number of injection sites is in parentheses (e). The images of tumors after 4 weeks were shown (f).