Figure 1.

WEE1 upregulation in ovarian cancer spheroids regulates cancer stem cell-like properties

Comparison of WEE1 protein (A and B) and mRNA (C) expression in adherent and spheroid cultures of various ovarian cancer cell lines and primary ovarian cancer cells. (D) Representative images of spheroids after WEE1 knockdown in SKOV3 cells. The sizes of spheroids in primary ovarian tumor cells and various ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3, OVACAR3, and OVCAR8) after WEE1 knockdown. Scale bars: 100 μm. (E) Representative images of SKOV3 spheroids after treatment with 200 nM adavosertib. The sizes of the spheroids formed from SKOV3, OVACAR3, and OVCAR8 cells treated with 200 nM adavosertib were significantly smaller compared with the control. Scale bar: 100 μm. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of the CD133⁺ (F) and ALDH1⁺ (G) population in primary ovarian cancer cells and SKOV3 cells after WEE1 knockdown. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001 for comparisons indicated by unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. Error bars, standard error of the mean.