Figure 2.

GM-CSF-exposed colon cancer cells exhibit augmented motility in vitro and in vivo. (a,b) SW480 and HCT116 colon cancer cell lines were treated with GM-CSF (25 ng/ml) for three weeks. The ability of migration (a) and invasion (b) was examined by transwell experiments. Upper: representative images were shown. Bottom: the data were pooled from three experiments. (c) SW480 cell lines were treated with GM-CSF as described above and collected as well as transfused to nude mice in a model of colorectal cancer liver metastasis as described in Materials and methods. Four-to-six weeks later, livers were pooled and tumor foci per mouse were calculated. Left panel: Representative macroscopic images were shown. The arrows denoted metastatic lesions. Right panel: Representative microscopic images of primary (spleen) and metastatic (liver) tumor sites were shown. Scale bar: 50 μm. The data were pooled from three experiments. (d) Tumors in spleen of recipients were collected and E-cadherin expression was detected by immunoblotting. Cropped blots were shown. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 vs untreated controls.