Fig. 8

AR signaling axis enhances the stemness characteristics of ovarian cancer cells. a) Sphere formation assays of the monoclonal GFP (+)/GFP (−) cells of the SKPV3 + 5 and A2780 + 20 cell lines. The sphere formation abilities of the GFP (+) cell lines were significantly stronger than those of the GFP (−) cell lines. Bar: 200 μM. b) Colony formation assays of the monoclonal GFP (+)/GFP (−) cells of the SKPV3 + 5 and A2780 + 20 cell lines. The clonal efficiency of the GFP (+) cells was higher than that of the GFP (−) cells. Bar: 200 μM. c and d) Androgen or inhibitor treatment in SKPV3 + 5 and A2780 + 20 GFP (+) cells. Sphere and colony formation were enhanced when DHT was added, while ASC-J9 decreased this effect. DMSO was used as the vehicle control. DHT: 10 nM, and ASC-J9: 5 μM; Bar: 100 μM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001