Figure 3

Knockdown of Bmi1 in breast cancer cells reduces stemness and induces epithelial morphology. A. The graph shows number of mammospheres formed in methylcellulose by NBLE-LP and MDAMB231 cells with vector alone control or with shBmi1 (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 knockdown, ** = p <0.01, *** = p <0.001). B. The graph shows percentage of CD44⁺/CD24⁻ fraction in NBLE-LP and MDAMB231 cells with vector alone control or with shBmi1 (n =3; error bars indicate s.d, statistical significance was calculated using unpaired t-test between percentage of CD44⁺/CD24⁻ in vector control and cells with Bmi1 knockdown, ** = p <0.01, *** = p <0.001). The graphs show fold change normalized to β2M mRNA levels in NBLE-LP (C) and MDAMB231 cells (D) with vector alone control or with shBmi1, (n =3; error bars indicate s.d). E. Immunoblot analysis for stemness and EMT related markers in NBLE-LP and MDAMB231 cells with vector alone control and shBmi1 (MDAMB231 samples were run on the same gel).