Figure 4.

Expression of MT1-MMP mutants alters MCA morphology. A, diagram depicting MCA generation via the hanging drop method. Cells (300–2,000 in 20 μl) were seeded onto the top of 35-mm culture dishes and then gently inverted and allowed to aggregate for 2 days. MCAs were subsequently imaged or used in an ex vivo peritoneal explant adhesion assay (described in the legend to Fig. 5). B, MCAs were imaged using Olympus BX43 light microscopy (first column) or with FEI-MAGELLAN 400 FESEM scanning electron microscopy as described under “Experimental procedures.” Magnification is as indicated. C, MCA area (μm²) was measured using ImageJ from images acquired using Olympus BX43 light microscopy. The scatter plot represents the area measurement of n = 10 MCAs. p < 0.05 was accepted as the level of significance. **, p < 0.01.