Fig. 1

HaCaT cell line possesses a “progenitor” sub-population. a Flow cytometric analyses for α6-integrin and CD71 expression in HaCaT cell line exhibited three phenotypes: α6-integrin^dim (R8), α6-integrin^bri/CD71^bri (R7) and α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim (R6). Upper panels correspond to enrichment assays sorting and reseeding only cells from the α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim subpopulation. Lower panels correspond to enrichment assays sorting and reseeding cells from a mix of α6-integrin^dim (R8) and α6-integrin^bri/CD71^bri (R7) subpopulations. b Bars graph of two rounds enrichment of the α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim subpopulation in self-renewal assays. Bars represent the mean ± SD of three independent assays (p < 0.05). c Bars graph of the clonogenic assays from the α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim subpopulation seeded after each round of enrichment. Bars represent the mean ± SD of three independent assays (p < 0.05). d RT-PCR analyses for the expression of stem cell markers (SOX2, OCT4 and NANOG) in α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim subpopulation, Non-α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim subpopulation and total population in HaCaT cell line. e RT-qPCR analyses for the expression of SOX2, OCT4 and NANOG in total HaCaTwt cells and after sorting in α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim and Non-α6-integrin^bri/CD71^dim subpopulations. Values are expressed as the difference in ^ΔΔCt and expression of a housekeeping gene (β-actin). Relative expression of three separated assays expressed as the mean ± SD, p < 0.05, is presented. All images shown are representative of at least three independent experiments