Fig. 1

UCCs are heterogeneous for cytokeratin expression and proportions of differentiation states. a Differentiation state model of UC according to Volkmer et al. [10]. Relative mRNA expression of epithelial markers E-cadherin and miR-200 and mesenchymal markers Vimentin and ZEB1 (b) and CK14, CK5, and CK20 (c) measured by qRT-PCR in a panel of 11 human UCCs. UCC expression levels were quantified relative to an internal standard. TBP was used as reference gene. d Mean percentages of CD90, CD44, and CD49f positive cells in 11 UCCs as measured by flow cytometry. UCCs were categorized into epithelial and mesenchymal phenotype. Values are expressed as the mean ± SD of triplicates