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Figure 2 | BMC Cancer

Figure 2

From: Single cell mutational analysis of PIK3CA in circulating tumor cells and metastases in breast cancer reveals heterogeneity, discordance, and mutation persistence in cultured disseminated tumor cells from bone marrow

Figure 2

Live DTCs captured by the MagSweeper and propagated in vitro. (A) DTCs detected in fresh smear of bone marrow aspirate among a background of red blood cells (RBCs) and white blood cells (WBCs) (left panel); unstained EpCAM-captured DTCs from bone marrow aspirate (right panel); small black circles are EpCAM-conjugated microbeads. (B) EpCAM-captured tumor cells (200×) grown in culture for three weeks: tumor cells proliferated days 1–4, but began changing shape on day 5. (C) Tumor cells identified by immunostaining at different timepoints during cell culture period (a = day 1; b-f = day 21 at 200×); upper panel 1 shows cell morphology by brightfield; middle panel 2 shows immunostain images (all cells were CK+, CD45- and DAPI+); lower panel 3 shows varying nuclear morphology of cells between day 1 day 21. Green = cytokeratin, red = CD45, blue = DAPI nuclear stain.

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BMC Cancer

ISSN: 1471-2407

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