Figure 1.

Morphologic differences of NSCLC cell lines.

Notes: (A) Cells were seeded onto cell culture dishes and photographed under a light microscope (400×). The resistant cell lines, H1975, H1299, HCC827/GR-8-1, HCC827/GR-8-2, and HCC827/GR-8-12, were found to exhibit morphologic changes, relative to sensitive (HCC827) and moderately sensitive (H358) cell lines, that were consistent with EMT. GR cells displayed typical features of mesenchymal cells, including loss of tight cell adherence, altered polarity, various degrees of shrinkage, blebbing, aggregation, and lack of obvious boundaries. In contrast, sensitive HCC827 and moderately sensitive H358 cells exhibited tight cell adherence. (B) Transwell assays demonstrating that GR cells exhibit higher migration capacity. The data demonstrate that cells with acquired gefitinib resistance (HCC827/GR-8-1, HCC827/GR-8-2, and HCC827/GR-8-12) exhibit higher migration capacity than their parental cell line (HCC827). Moderately sensitive H358 cells also exhibited weak migration ability (200×).

Abbreviations: EMT, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition; GR, gefitinib-resistant; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer.