Expression of HOTAIR in transfected ESCs. (A) The typical morphology of ESCs. (B) The cell type of ESCs was confirmed by measuring the expression of the cell type surface markers CD44, CD45, CD34 and CD14, and quantifying the positively-stained cells. The flow cytometry histograms for selected cells markers from ESCs were displayed. The results of cells staining positive were indicated by display of the percentage. The red line indicates the positive staining cells, and the black line indicates the isotype-matched monoclonal antibody control. The results demonstrated positive surface staining for overexpression of CD44 and low expression of CD45, CD34 and CD14, which indicated that the isolated cells were ESCs. (C) Results revealed overexpression and suppression of HOTAIR in lentivirus-transfected ESCs. Values are presented as the mean ± standard deviation from at least three independents. Scale bar=50 µm. *P<0.05 pc-HOTAIR group vs. pc-vector and con-ESCs groups. #P<0.05 sh-HOTAIR group vs. the sh-NC and con-ESCs groups. HOTAIR, HOX antisense intergenic RNA; ESC, epidermal stem cell; NC, negative control; sh, short hairpin RNA; CD, cluster of differentiation; pc, overexpression plasmid; con, parental control cells.