Fig. 2

Chemotaxis of pancreatic cancer cells towards LPA detected by TAXIScan (a and b) or Boyden chamber (c). a Four pancreatic cancer cell lines were used for the TAXIScan method. Dose-dependency of BxPC3 chemotaxis towards LPA is observed. The migration images of PANC-1, AsPC1, and MIAPaCa-2 cells in the optimal conditions are also shown. Images taken at time 0, 120 and 240 min are shown. The morphologies of 4 or 5 representative migrating cells throughout the assays are shown on the “Trace” column. The outlines of the migrating cells were recorded every 10 min in this column. Cells migrating at more than 1 μm/min are shown in red. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments. Scale bar: 100 μm. b Quantitation of the directionality and velocity of migration of BxPC3 cells towards various concentrations of LPA. The graph on the left indicates the directionality and the graph on the right indicates velocity. White circles are outliers. Statistical analysis was done by the Kruskal-Wallis Test (Nonparametric ANOVA) followed by the Dunn’s Multiple Comparisons Test. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments. c Migration of BxPC3 cells towards LPA using Boyden chamber assay kit. The migrated cells were stained with the staining solution and the numbers of the migrated cells were estimated by measuring OD 560 nm based on the standard curve (the graph on the right). The assay results with the collagen I coated membrane (black bar) or the plain membrane (white bar) are shown in the graph on the left. Mean values of data are shown and the error bars represents the standard error (n = 6). Statistical analysis was conducted using the Student’s t-test. *p < 0.05 (vs. data without LPA)