Fig. 3

Measuring CSCs proliferation using Ki-67 factor (a) and clonogenic capacity after LXR activation (b). The fluorescence intensity of Ki-67 in CSCs with or without 5 µM T0901317 was analyzed by IF. CSCs were directly labeled using the PE-conjugated anti-Ki-67 antibody. b The number of colonies was decreased in after treatment with 5 and 10 µM T0901317 compared to the control group. The incubation of CSCs with T0901317 at both doses 5 and 10 µM did yield statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). Effects of LXR activation on migration and invasion CSCs after 48 h (c and d). CSCs were treated with 5 and 10 µM T0901317 and the number of migrated CSCs and invasion rates were evaluated by Transwell migration and scratch assays. c Transwell assays showed that the treatment of CSCs with 5 and 10 µM T0901317 decreased the number of migrated CSCs compared with the control (p < 0.001). d Scratch assay showed that the distance of scratch edges increased upon treatment with 5 µM T0901317 compared to the control group. However, the values did not reach statistically significant results. Student t-test and One-Way ANOVA with Tukey posthoc analysis. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗p < 0.001