Figure 1.

MiR-216a-5p expression in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). (A) MiR-216a expression levels were analyzed by qRT-PCR in primary breast cancer cells cultured in suspension (stem cells) or adherent (differentiated cells) conditions. (B) MDA-MB-231 and T47D stem cells express higher levels of stem markers compared to differentiated cells, as assessed by Western blotting. (C) MDA-MB-231 and T47D stem cells express high levels of Oct4 and Nanog, as assessed by Real-time PCR. (D) MDA-MB-231 and T47D stem cells have high levels of ALDH activity, as assessed by flow cytometry. (E) MiR-216a is down-regulated in enriched stem cell cultures. Data are mean values ± SD of three independent experiments. Significance was calculated using Student’s t-test. *, p < 0.05, **, p < 0.01, ***, p < 0.001, ****, p < 0.0001.