Figure 8

In vitro validation of the effects of curcumin on primary tumor-derived breast cancer stem cells (bCSCs). (A) Representative flow cytometric cell-sorting data performed for the purification of bCSCs (CD44⁺/CD24^-/low) from patient-derived primary breast tumor samples. (B-D) Graphical representation of relative mean fluorescence intensities (MFIs) in arbitrary units (AU) of drug-resistance markers ABCG2 and MRP1, stemness related enzyme ALDH1, and de-differentiation markers Oct-4, Sox-2, and Nanog in bCSCs and non-stem cancer cells (NSCCs) purified from primary breast tumors, as determined by flow cytometry (right panels). Left panels depict representative flow cytometric histogram overlay data. (E) Graphical representation of relative MFIs of E-cadherin, β-catenin and Slug in the bCSC population of primary tumor samples with or without curcumin treatment as determined by flow cytometry (lower panels). Upper panels depict representative flow cytometric histogramoverlay data. Data are presented as mean ± standard error of mean or representative of three independent experiments. Cont, control; CSC, cancer stem cell; Cur, curcumin.