Fig. 7

ACTN4 is closely correlated with the CSCs phenotype. (A) The expression panel of CD44 and CD24 in breast cancer cell lines; (B) a. ACTN4 expression was significantly elevated in the ALDEFLUOR-positive cells and CD44⁺/CD24⁻ phenotypes; b. ACTN4 expression was greatly enhanced in the undifferentiated CSC spheroids mammospheres (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 versus CSC spheres, values represented as the mean ± SD, n = 3); (C) EpCAM expression was significantly up-regulated in the ACTN4-positive CSCs by flow cytometry analysis; (D) CD44⁺/CD24⁻/ACTN4⁺ cells displayed enhanced proliferation in MDA-MB-231 cells (**P < 0.01, values represented as the mean ± SD, n = 3); (E) CD44⁺/CD24⁻/ACTN4⁺ cells represent a distinct population of CSCs with higher self-renewal (c) and adherence-promoting (b) capacity (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 versus CD44⁺/CD24⁻/ACTN4⁻ cells, values represented as the mean ± SD, n = 3); (F) The relative mRNA expressions of EMT markers in CD44⁺/CD24⁻/ACTN4⁺ cell lysates (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, values represented as the mean u SD, n = 3)