Radiobiological characteristics of cancer stem cells from esophageal cancer cell lines

Figure 1 Differences in the biological characteristics of parent cells and spheres. A: Cell spheres of different sizes suspended in the medium. The size of cell spheres gradually increased (× 200) with extended culture time; B: As the passage number increased, the rate of formation of cell spheres increased; C: Microscopic observation indicated that most cell spheres adhered after 6, 24 and 48 h; D: Cell growth was determined by the MTT assay. The multiplication capacity of KYSE150 and TE1 cell spheres was significantly higher than that of normal adherent cells; E: The expression of stem cell genes, BMI-1 and SOX-2, in cell spheres was increased; F: Transwell migration experiments demonstrating the invasion ability of KYSE150 and TE1 cell spheres in comparison with the invasion ability of parent cells.