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Figure 2 | BMC Cancer

Figure 2

From: Human mammary fibroblasts stimulate invasion of breast cancer cells in a three-dimensional culture and increase stroma development in mouse xenografts

Figure 2

Characterisation of cancer cells and the effect of conditioned media from fibroblasts. (A) Phase contrast images of MCF7 and MCF7S1 cells treated with fibroblast CM in 2D growth conditions. Arrows indicate scattered cancer cells. Scale bars = 100 μm. (B) Percentage of cancer cells scattered in normal growth conditions and in response to fibroblast CM (** p = 0,0006, * p = 0,0225 by Student's t-test). (C) Elongation of HMF3s fibroblasts (arrows) and scattering of MCF7S1 cells in sparse co-culture using vimentin (red) and cytokeratin (green) as cell-specific markers. Mono-cultures of both cell lines were used as controls. In dense co-culture, fibroblasts shorten and tumour cells are less scattered. Scale bars = 100 μm. (D) Downregulation of E-cadherin expression (red) in MCF7S1 cells in response to treatment with fibroblast CM. Oestrogen receptor (ER) (green) was used as a marker for cancer cells. Scale bars = 50 μm.

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