Figure 2

The treatment of paclitaxel and doxorubicin leads to enrichment of ALDH+ TIC in TNBC. (A,B) The MDA-MB231 cells were treated with various doses of paclitaxel (A) and doxorubicin (B) for 72 hours. The ALDH⁺ and CD44⁺/CD24⁻ subpopulation was examined using flow cytometry. (C,D) The BT20 cells were treated with various doses of paclitaxel (C) and doxorubicin (D) for 72 hours. The ALDH⁺ and CD44⁺/CD24⁻ subpopulation was examined using flow cytometry. (E) The BT20 cells showed increased self- renewal capability after chemotherapy (40 nM Pac or 50 nM Dox) for 72 hours as measured by tumorsphere formation assay. For panel (A–E), one-way ANOVA followed by multiple comparisons was used with P < 0.05 as statistically significant. (F) Results of limiting dilution analysis for secondary sphere formation of BT20 cells with and without Pac or Dox treatment. Data were analyzed using the ELDA software. *Indicates significant difference from untreated group by Pac or Dox. Pr = 0.0164 for Pac treated group and 0.000796 for Dox treated group.