Fig. 3

Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have high expression of IL-6 and promote MCF10.DCIS growth. a Expression of IL-6 mRNA in three CAF cell lines (FB-CAF, CAF40TKi, WS12Ti) and three normal fibroblast cell lines (NAF-FB, FB-NF-Ki, NAF-98i) (Fold difference relative to MCF-10A non-transformed epithelial cells) (N = 3). b-c IL-6 protein concentration in cell lysates and media as determined by ELISA (N = 3-5) (Also see Additional file 4: Figure S2E). ****P ≤ 0.0001, Student’s t-test; mean ± SD d Representative contiguous tiled DIC image of MCF10.DCIS cells grown in MAME culture for 8 days. e Co-culture of MCF10.DCIS cells with CAF40TKi fibroblasts for 8 days. Dashed red line outlines multicellular structures formed in co-culture. Arrows identify interconnecting structures. Scale bars, 200 μm