Figure 1

Characterization of morphology and stemness-related markers between pancreatic cancer stem-like cells and non-stem pancreatic cancer cells. (A) Phase-contrast images of the pancreatic cancer stem-like cells displayed epithelial-like appearance, while non-stem pancreatic cancer cells displayed fibroblast-like appearance. (B) Oct-4, c-MYC genes expression in pancreatic cancer stem-like cells and non-stem pancreatic cancer cells were detected by RT-PCR. (C) Expression of Oct-4, c-MYC proteins in pancreatic cancer stem-like cells and non-stem pancreatic cancer cells were detected by Western blotting. Data were normalized to β-actin levels. Experiments were repeated three times with similar data(* P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001). C represents for pancreatic cancer stem-like cells, N represents for non-stem pancreatic cancer cells. Scale bar equal 50 μm. (D) Oct-4, c-MYC gene expression of the bulk pancreatic cells under the intermittent hypoxia (IH) and normoxia (N) conditions were detected by RT-PCR. (E) Expression of Oct-4, c-MYC proteins in the bulk pancreatic cells under the intermittent hypoxia (IH) and normoxia (N) conditions were detected by Western blotting. Data were normalized to β-actin levels. Experiments were repeated three times with similar data (* P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001).