Skip to main content
. 2017 Feb 23;2(4):e87489. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.87489

Figure 5. Downregulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) expression in breast cancer cells inhibits the increased invasion and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by adipocytes.

Figure 5

(A) Upper panel: relative CPT1A mRNA expression in human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) and in the indicated breast tumor cell lines (ZR: ZR-75-1; SUM: SUM159PT) (n = 3–5). Lower panel: expression of CPT1A analyzed by immunoblot in ZR-75-1 cells cocultivated (C) or not (NC) with mature adipocytes for 3 days. (B) Quantification of the mRNA (upper panel, n = 3) and protein levels (lower panel) of CPT1A in ZR-75-1 cells stably transfected with shControl (shCtrl) and shCPT1A (shCPT) vectors. (C) ZR-75-1 cells stably transfected with shCtrl and shCPT were grown on Transwells in the presence or not of mature adipocytes. After 3 days, cells were used for Matrigel invasion assays toward a medium containing either 0% or 10% FCS (n = 4–6). (D) Immunofluorescence staining, visualized by confocal microscopy, of E-cadherin (green) and Actin (red) in shControl and shCPT1A ZR-75-1 cells cocultivated or not with adipocytes for 3 days. Nuclei were labeled with DAPI. Scale bar: 20 μm. (A, B, and D) At least 3 experiments were conducted, and representative experiments are shown. Bars and error flags represent means ± SEM; statistically significant by Mann-Whitney U test (A and C) and Student’s t test (B), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.