MicroRNA-145 exerts tumor-suppressive and chemo-resistance lowering effects by targeting CD44 in gastric cancer

Figure 1 miR-145 and CD44 expression in gastric cancer cells with self-renewal properties. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^eP < 0.001 vs the monolayer cells; data are the mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments. A: Representative image of a tumor sphere of MGC-803 cells. MGC-803 cells were cultured in stem cell medium as described in the Materials and Methods section; B: miR-145 expression in tumor spheres and monolayer cells. miR-145 expression was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR); C: CD44 mRNA expression in tumor spheres and monolayer cells. CD44 mRNA expression was determined by qPCR; D: CD44 protein expression in tumor spheres and monolayer cells. Cells were harvested for western blotting analysis; E: The expression of several gastric cancer stem cell markers in tumor spheres and monolayer cells. Sox2, Oct4, and Nanog mRNA expression was determined by real-time PCR.