Fig. 6

Inhibition of TAFIa increases proteolysis of DQ-collagen type IV by breast cancer cells. SUM149 (a) and MDA-MB-231 (b) cells labeled with CellTracker Orange (shown in red) were grown on reconstituted basement membrane extract containing 25 μg/mL DQ-collagen IV. Cells were treated with 10 μg/mL PTCI for 48 h. Confocal images were taken following the 48 h treatment. DQ-collagen degradation products were observed in green. Scale bars: 20 μm. c DQ-collagen fluorescence was quantified and normalized to the area of CellTracker Orange fluorescence. The data are represented as the green fluorescent intensity per area of the red fluorescence, averaged across the entire z-stack and expressed relative to untreated cells (Control). The data represent the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments, each carried out in triplicate. *: p <0.05 versus Control. d MDA-MB-231 cells labeled with CellTracker Orange (shown in red) were grown on rBM containing 25 μg/mL DQ-collagen IV and treated with 50 nM of either TAFIa-WT or TAFIa-CIIYQ, or with 50 nM mock-activated TAFI-WT or TAFI-CIIYQ. Confocal images of cells (red) and DQ-collagen IV degradation products (green) were captured after 48 h. Scale bars: 20 μm. e Degradation of DQ-collagen IV was quantified as in (c). The data represent the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments, each carried out in triplicate. *: p <0.05 versus Control