Fig. 1

Non-adherent 3D-cultured prostatospheroids exhibit increased expressions of two PCSC-associated surface markers EpCAM and CD44. a Representative images of three selected prostate cancer cell lines (AR-positive, VCaP and LNCaP; AR-negative, DU145) grown under the adherent 2D-culture condition (magnification, × 20; bars, 100 μm) and the non-adherent 3D-culture on agar-coated surfaces (magnification, × 20; bars, 200 μm). b RT-qPCR and immunoblot analyses of EpCAM and CD44. Results showed that all prostatospheroids derived from different prostate cancer cells expressed significantly higher mRNA and protein levels of EpCAM and CD44 as compared to their counterpart adherent cultured cells. *P < 0.05 versus adherent cultured cells