The number of proliferating cells is represented by the level of BrdU incorporation which directly correlates to the absorbance values. Growth rate (R) was calculated by the following equation: where A72h and A24h indicate the absorbance at 450 nm after 24 and 72 hours of incubation. Colony formation assay Lentivirus-transduced glioblastoma cells (200 cells/ well) were seeded in 6-well plates. Culture medium was changed at regular time intervals. After 14 days of culture, adherent cells were washed twice with PBS, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde see more for 30 min at room temperature. The colonies were

stained with Giemsa solution for 15 min, then washed with water and air-dried. Cell colonies were counted using a light microscopy. The experiment was performed in triplicate. Cell cycle analysis The effect of STIM1 on cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry [22]. Briefly,

lentivirus-transduced U251 cells (1 × 105 cells/dish) were seeded at 6-cm dishes. Cells were harvested when they reach 80% confluence, and fixed at least 1 h with 70% ice-cold ethanol at 4°C. Cells were washed with PBS and resuspended in 1 mL of PBS containing 50 μg/mL PI and 100 μg/mL RNase A. After following incubation for 1 h in the dark at room ITF2357 supplier temperature, cells were analyzed by flow cytometry using a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (Becton-Dickinson, San Jose, CA) at 24, 48 and 72 click here hrs after transduction. The fractions of cells in G0/G1, S, and G2/M

phases were analyzed using dedicated software. Xenograft tumor model The antitumor effects of siSTIM1 were evaluated in vivo using the U251 human glioma xenograft model in nude mice. All animal procedures were performed according to the guidelines of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical C1GALT1 Sciences. Briefly, U251 cells were infected with si-STIM1-expressing lentivirus or control-siRNA-expressing lentivirus at MOI of 50. When an apparent efficiency of 80%-90% GFP-positive cells was observed, cells were harvested and suspended at a density of 2 × 107/mL DMEM (without serum), and 5 × 106 cells were subcutaneously injected into the right dorsal flank of male BALB/c nu/nu athymic nude mice (SLAC Laboratory Animal Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China, 4-6 week-old) (n = 10 per group). The mice were housed and maintained under specific-pathogen free (SPF) condition. Tumor size was measured every 10 days using microcaliper, and tumor volume was calculated according to the following formula: tumor volume = (width2 × length)/2. The animals were sacrificed and tumors were excised after 30 days after injection. Tumor size was measured, and then the tumor was immediately frozen in liquid N2 for protein extraction.