Comparison of gene expression levels in parental U87 cells and U87 tumor spheres treated with or without ITE

The formation of U87 tumor spheres was associated with expression changes of many genes which was reverted by the treatment with ITE(2-(1'H-indole-3'-carbonyl)-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester). We used DNA microarrays to profile gene expression in U87 tumor spheres treated with ITE and identified distinct classes of up-regulated and down-regulated genes during this process. U87 cells were selected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. We compared the expression profiles of parental U87 cells, U87 tumor sphere cells treated with vehicle (DMSO) and U87 tumor sphere cells treated with ITE.