Significance of Glioma Stem-Like Cells in the Tumor Periphery That Express High Levels of CD44 in Tumor Invasion, Early Progression, and Poor Prognosis in Glioblastoma

Figure 2

Expression of stem cell markers and stem cell-related molecules in the core and the periphery of the tumor in four glioblastoma (GBM) patients. (a) mRNA expression of eight stem cell markers (Nestin, CXCR4, Oct3/4, CD15, CD133, Bmi-1, Sox2, and CD44) and four stem cell-related molecules (HIF-1α, HIF-2α, VEGF, and TGF-β) in the core and the periphery was determined with qRT-PCR. The values are relative expression of mRNA of stem cell markers and molecules normalized to the GAPDH. (b) Expression of eight stem cell markers shown as the P/C expression ratio for each marker in each patient. The P/C ratios for the marker were calculated by dividing the amount of mRNA expression of the marker in the tumor periphery by that in the core for each patient. (c) Expression of four stem cell-related molecules shown as the P/C expression ratio for each molecule in each patient. The P/C ratios for the molecule were calculated as described for the stem cell markers. The numbers on the x-axis are the patient numbers.

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