Figure 1

Characterisation of fibroblasts and the effect of conditioned media from cancer cells. (A) Phase contrast images of BJ and HMF3s fibroblasts treated with cancer cell CM in 2D growth conditions. Arrows indicate markedly elongated cells. Scale bars = 100 μm. (B) The length of fibroblasts in normal growth conditions and when stimulated with cancer cell CM (*** p < 0,0001 by Student's t-test). (C) Upregulation of S100A4 expression (green) in HMF3s fibroblasts in response to treatment with cancer cell CM or in co-culture with MCF7S1 tumour cells. Vimentin (red) was used as a fibroblast-specific marker. Scale bars = 50 μm. (D) Western blot analysis of cell lysates showing increased S100A4 expression in HMF3s cells in response to co-culturing with tumour cells. A-tubulin was used as a loading control. (E) Quantification of the blot shown in Figure 1D indicating the relative levels of both α-tubulin and S100A4.