Bim or E2F1 or Bcl-xL silencing inhibits colony formation of cancer cells.
A and B, Bim or Bcl-xL or E2F1-silenced MDA-MB231 cancer cells were plated at a density of 500 cells/well in a 6-well plate. Medium was replaced with fresh culture medium every 72 h. When colonies became visible (∼2 weeks), cells were fixed and stained with Giemsa (1:10 in distilled water at room temperature) and counted. Representative images are shown in B. C, control or Bcl-xL shRNA LNCaP and MDA-MB231 cells were subjected to Western blotting to detect levels of Bim expression. Actin serves as loading control. Data are mean ± S.D., n = 3; *, p < 0.05.