Fig. 3.

PDGFRα expression induces a dramatic phenotypic change in PTC cell lines. (a) Two-dimensional culture micrographs demonstrate the significant change in cellular morphology with insertion of the PDGFRα gene into BCPAP cells. Scale bar 50 μm. (b) Colony formation in the cell lines with different PDGFR subunit compositions. n = 6. (c) The wound healing assay with closure of the wound examined at 44 h in three independent experiments. Results were qualitatively and quantitatively similar with (shown) and without mitomycin C to inhibit cell division. n = 8. (d) Invasive potential was studied using the basement membrane cell invasion assay kit. After 48 h incubation, invasive cells were dissociated, lysed, and quantified by CyQuant GR Dye. RFU: relative fluorescence units. n = 8. (e) 3D culture assessment of varying growth patterns between PDGFRα-positive and negative thyroid primary cultures. Scale bars 200 μm, inset 50 μm. (f) Cellular proliferation as quantified by cell count in the PTC cell lines did not reveal significant differences in proliferative potential with the insertion of the PDGFRα subunit. n = 8. Results in B, C, D and F are means ± SEM.