Fig. 3.

Tumour cell–derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) induce the protein expression of myofibroblast markers in hBM-MSCs. (a) Western blotting analysis of α-SMA, FAP and vimentin protein expression in MSCs. The expression of α-SMA, FAP and vimentin was increased in MSCs incubated with KMBC-EVs for 14 days. Bars represent quantitative densitometric data showing the mean value±SEM of 3 separate studies. *p<0.05, *p<0.01. (b) Immunofluorescence microscopy of α-SMA expression in MSCs after 28-day culture. MSCs were cultured in the presence or absence of EVs derived from malignant KMBC cells or non-malignant H69 cells. An increase in α-SMA is seen in MSCs cultured in the presence of KMBC but not H69-derived EVs.