Molecule

Cells are resuspended at ≤1 × 10⁶ in 100 μL sorting buffer (PBS containing 0.5% bovine serum albumin, 2 mM EDTA) and incubated with preconjugated primary antibodies BEREP4-FITC (1:10), CD44-APC (1:20), and CD24-PE (1:10) for 10 minutes at 4 °C. The cells are washed in PBS and centrifuged at 800 × g for 2 minutes. For analysis, cells are resuspended in 500 μL of sorting buffer and fluorescence is measured using FACSCalibur and analyzed using WinMIDI 2.8. For sorting, cells are resuspended in 1× HBSS after incubation with the primary antibodies. Cells are sorted, with HBSS as sheath fluid, at 16 p.s.i. using FACSAria. The CD24_low cell population gated by FACS is the lowest quintile of CD24-positive cells plus all the CD24-negative cells.