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Figure 5 | Breast Cancer Research

Figure 5

From: Small interfering RNA library screen identified polo-like kinase-1 (PLK1) as a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer that uniquely eliminates tumor-initiating cells

Figure 5

Effect of combined treatment of Taxol, Dox, or 5FU followed by BI 2536 on SUM149 cells. (A) Taxol, Dox, and 5FU inhibited the growth of SUM149 after 72 hours. C, control (medium only). (B) Drug treatment led to a higher percentage of CD44high/CD24-/low TIC (tumor-initiating cell) subpopulation in surviving SUM149 cells after 72 hours. Top image panel: CD44high/CD24-/low cells (arrows) after 5FU treatment (0.1 mM, 72 hours) as viewed by HCS (high-content screening) instrument (×10). (C) Combined treatment with the drugs (Taxol, Dox, or 5FU) for 72 hours, followed by BI 2536 for another 96 hours, significantly reduced cell growth, even though the drugs induced a higher percentage of the CD44high/CD24-/low subpopulation. All data are presented as mean ± SD of two independent tests. DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; Taxol, paclitaxel; Dox, doxorubicin; 5FU, 5-fluorouracil.

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