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In Vitro Tumorigenic Assay: Colony Forming Assay for Cancer Stem Cells

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Cancer Stem Cells

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1692))

Abstract

Colony forming or clonogenic assay is an in vitro quantitative technique to examine the capability of a single cell to grow into a large colony through clonal expansion. Clonogenic activity is a sensitive indicator of undifferentiated cancer stem cells. Here, we described the colony forming ability of the isolated breast cancer stem cells from the total population of cancer cells using double-layered, soft agarose-based assay. This method demonstrates that cancer stem cells can survive and generate colony growth in an anchorage-independent culture model. The 0.005% crystal violet solution is used in this assay to visualize the generated colonies.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the startup support from Linkoping University and Cancerfonden.

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Correspondence to Mayur Vilas Jain Ph.D. .

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Rajendran, V., Jain, M.V. (2018). In Vitro Tumorigenic Assay: Colony Forming Assay for Cancer Stem Cells. In: Papaccio, G., Desiderio, V. (eds) Cancer Stem Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1692. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7401-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7401-6_8

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7400-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7401-6

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