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. 2009 Dec;23(12):4231–4243. doi: 10.1096/fj.09-138412

Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Abl activation promotes normal MEC morphology and TGF-β-mediated cytostasis in metastatic MECs grown in compliant microenvironments. A, B) Bright-field images (×70) of parental, CST-Abl-, KD-Abl, or shAbl-expressing 4T1 cells grown in 2-D (A) or compliant 3-D organotypic (B) culture systems as indicated. Insets: magnified views of boxed regions. Images are representative of 3 independent experiments. C) Parental or CST-Abl-expressing 4T1 cells were grown in compliant 3-D organotypic cultures for 7 d as indicated. Afterward, resulting acinar structures were stained with FITC-phalloidin and DAPI. Insets: magnified views of boxed regions. Images are representative of 2 independent experiments. D) Parental or CST-Abl-expressing 4T1 cells were stimulated with TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) for 48 h in 2-D (left panel) or compliant 3-D organotypic (right panel) cultures as indicated. Differences in proliferation were determined by employment of MTS proliferation assays. Data are means ± se; n = 2–5. *P < 0.01, ‡P < 0.05 vs. untreated parental 4T1 cells; Student’s t test. E) 4T1 cells expressing empty vector, CST-Abl, or KD-Abl were stimulated with TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) for 24 h. Afterward, relative mRNA expression of p21Cip1 transcripts was determined by semiquantitative real-time PCR. Data are combined from 2 independent experiments.