Figure 2

CD24 and Sca-1 flow cytometry isolates similar populations in age-matched virgin and parous tissues. (a) Age-matched virgin (AMV) cells and (b) parous cells were stained with antibodies against CD24, Sca-1 and CD49f. The CD24 and Sca-1 plots (left panels) identified CD24^+/Low Sca-1^-, CD24^+/High Sca-1^- and CD24^+/High Sca-1⁺ cells in both AMV and parous cell preparations. Analysis of these populations for CD49f expression (right panels) enabled identification of the CD24^+/Low Sca-1^- CD49f^High population previously shown to be enriched for mammary stem cells [11, 26, 27]. See also Additional data file 1. (c) Relative abundance of CD24^+/Low Sca-1^-, CD24^+/High Sca-1^- and CD24^+/High Sca-1⁺ cells as a percentage of the total epithelium in AMV and parous tissue.