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. 2017 Feb 15;8(13):20813–20824. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15343

Figure 3. Impaired NuMA alignment in impaired spindles of human cancer cells treated with the phenanthridine PJ34.

Figure 3

Scanned spindles in fixed human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells (upper frames in A and B) and normal breast epithelial MCF10A cells (lower frames in A and B), without or following treatment with PJ34 (20 μM, 27 h). Aberrant disorganized spindles, impaired NuMA alignment, and impaired chromosome alignments in the spindle mid-zone were observed only in cancer cells treated with PJ-34. Normal and malignant cells were immunolabeled for NuMA (red) and α-tubulin (green). Chromosomes are stained with DAPI (blue). (C) Scattered misaligned chromosomes and NuMA in disorganized spindles following PJ34 treatment (20 μM, 27 h) of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. Proper alignment of chromosomes in the mid-zone of bifocal spindles and NuMA labeling in bifocal poles of PJ34 treated (20 μM, 27 h) MCF10A human epithelial cells. Both cell types were immunolabeled for NuMA (red) and kinesin HSET/kifC1 (green). Chromosomes are stained with DAPI (blue). Disorganized spindles and misaligned chromosomes were observed in 95% of spindles in PJ34 treated MDA-MB-231 cells (n = 20). Normal spindles, and chromosomes aligned in the spindle mid-zone were observed in all scanned PJ34 treated MCF10A cells (n = 20).