Fig. 2.

Membrane-impenetrable E₂-BSA-induced mRNA and protein expression of MMP-9 in MCF-7. Fluorescent photography showed that FITC-labeled E₂-BSA did not puncture the membranes of MCF-7 breast cancer cells (a). MFC-7 was treated with 10 nM E₂-BSA for different time periods; the mRNA (b) and protein expression (c) of MMP-9 were detected respectively by real-time PCR and Western blot. Subsequently, MFC-7 was treated with E₂-BSA and E₂ at the concentration respectively of 10 nM and 100 nM; the mRNA (d) and protein expression (e) of MMP-9 were detected respectively by real-time PCR and Western blot. All presented figures are representative data from at least three independent experiments. *P < 0.05 compared with 0 h of E₂-BSA treatment (b, c) or medium control (d, e); ^#P < 0.05 compared with that treated with 10 nM E₂; ^&P < 0.05 compared with that treated with 10 nM E₂-BSA