The complete MammoCult™ medium containing 5% MammoCult™ proliferation supplement, 4 μg/mL heparin, and 0.48 μg/mL hydrocortisone was used. MCF-7 cells were resuspended in complete MammoCult™ medium, and T47D cells resuspended in complete DMEM/F-12 medium. The cell suspension (4 × 103) was seeded into a 6-well plate and cultured at 37 °C and 5% CO2. After 7 days of culture, the spheres were collected and centrifuged at 350 g for 5 min, and the supernatant was discarded. Then, 1 mL of Accutase cell dispersion solution was added to digest the spheres, followed by adding 9 mL of sterile PBS solution and centrifugation at 350 g for 5 min. Finally, the supernatant was discarded, and the cells were collected.
CD44+CD24−/low BCSCs were isolated from MCF-7 and T47D cells by staining with CD44-APC, CD24-PE and ESA-FITC (BD Pharmingen, USA) antibodies via FACS as described in our previous research [8 (link), 20 (link)].