Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Single-cell Gene Expression Using Multiplex RT-qPCR to Characterize Heterogeneity of Rare Lymphoid Populations
Published on: January 19, 2017
Side Population: Its Use in the Study of Cellular Heterogeneity and as a Potential Enrichment Tool for Rare Cell
Elize Wolmarans1, Sulette Nel2, Chrisna Durandt1
1Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Department of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council Extramural Unit for Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Abstract:
There is still much to learn about the cells used for cell- and gene-based therapies in the clinical setting. Stem cells are found in virtually all tissues in the human body. As a result, cells isolated from these tissues are a heterogeneous population consisting of various subpopulations including stem cells. Several strategies have been used to isolate and define the subpopulations that constitute these heterogeneous populations, one of which is the side population (SP) assay. SP cells are identified by their ability to efflux a fluorescent dye at a rate that is greater than the main cell population. This elevated rate of dye efflux has been attributed to the expression of members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter protein family. SP cells have been identified in various tissues. In this review, we discuss the research to date on SP cells, focussing on SP cells identified in haematopoietic stem cells, adipose-derived stromal cells, and dental pulp.
More Related Videos
08:57Layered Alginate Constructs: A Platform for Co-culture of Heterogeneous Cell Populations
Published on: August 7, 2016
09:34A Combinatorial Single-cell Approach to Characterize the Molecular and Immunophenotypic Heterogeneity of Human Stem and Progenitor Populations
Published on: October 25, 2018
Related Concept Videos
What is Population Genetics?
Conservation of Small Populations
Population Growth
What are Populations and Communities?
Conservation of Declining Populations
Testing a Claim about Mean: Known Population SD
Estimating a population mean requires the samples to be distributed normally. The data should be collected from the randomly selected samples having no sampling bias. The sample size needed to be higher than 30, and most importantly, the population standard deviation should be already known.
In most realistic situations, the population standard deviation is often unknown, but in rare circumstances, when it...