Figure 2

Overexpression of Bmi1 in breast cells increases stemness and induces EMT. A. The graph shows number of mammospheres formed in methylcellulose by HMLE and NBLE cells with vector alone control or with Bmi1 overexpression (n =3; error bars indicate s.d, statistical significance was calculated using unpaired t-test between number of mammospheres formed by vector control and Bmi1 over expression, ** = p <0.01, *** = p <0.001). B. The pictographs show morphology of HMLE and NBLE cells with vector alone control and with Bmi1 overexpression. Graphs showing fold changes (normalized to β2M mRNA levels) of stemness and EMT-related genes in HMLE cells (C) and NBLE cells (D) with vector alone control (white bars) and with Bmi1 overexpression (black bars), n =3; error bars indicate s.d. E. Immunoblot analysis for expression of stemness and EMT related markers in HMLE and NBLE cells with vector alone control and Bmi1 overexpression.