Fig. 1

The CD133-positive HCC population has cancer stem cell-like properties in liver cancer. a Schematic of the experimental procedure for the generation of LCSC and HCC spheroids (left panel). Spheroids were stained with phalloidin-633, which is staining the F-actin for structure morphology, and Hoechst 33342 for nucleus staining in order to compare the different morphological signatures between the two spheroids. b The drug sensitivities of LCSC and HCC spheroids were examined after treatment with 10 μM sorafenib and doxorubicin for 8 days. The size of the spheroid was measured each day using the Operetta® High Content Screening System using a × 10 objective (scale bar: 200 μm). c LCSC and HCC spheroids were stained with CD133 and phalloidin-633, which identified CSCs in both spheroids. d Chemoresistance of the CD133-positive HCC population to anti-cancer drugs was detected using the HCS system. CD133 staining was carried out following drug treatment for 48 h (upper panel); mean values ± SD from two independent experiments for cell survival ratio relative to the value for control are shown in the lower panel