Fig. 4: NURR1 can function to enhance in vitro stemness of prostate cancer cells. | Cell Death & Disease

Fig. 4: NURR1 can function to enhance in vitro stemness of prostate cancer cells.

From: Nuclear receptor NURR1 functions to promote stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in prostate cancer via its targeting of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Fig. 4

A–D Non-adherent 3D-culture spheroid formation assay. Top: Representative images of spheroids formed by various prostate cancer cell infectants. Bottom: Quantitative analysis of spheroids formed. Results showed that VCaP/LNCaP/DU 145-NURR1 infectants formed more and larger spheroids, whereas 22Rv1/PC-3/DU 145-shNURR1 infectants with NURR1-knockdown and DU 145-sgCTNNB1 infectants with CTNNB1-knockout formed less and smaller spheroids under non-adherent 3D-culture condition. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.001 versus vector or scramble-shRNA. E, F Immunoblot analyses of PCSCs-associated markers in NURR1- and shNURR1 infectants and their infectants treated with C-DIM-12 or IWP-2. Results showed that LNCaP/VCaP-NURR1 infectants and DU 145-vector infectants treated with C-DIM-12 expressed higher levels of PCSC-associated markers (including CD44, Oct4a, Nanog and EpCAM) and lower levels of CD24 (a negative marker of PCSCs). Conversely, DU 145-shNURR1 or DU 145-NURR1-sgCTNNB1 infectants and also IWP-2-treated DU 145-NURR1 infectants expressed lower levels of CD44 and ALDH1 and higher levels of CD24.

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