Table 1.

Scoring system used in order to analyse surface morphology of the cells.

Surface characteristics	Scoring system
Cell connections	Relative percentage of long and thin cytoplasmic projections (e.g. Filopodia) per cell and connections between adjacent cells; 1= ~0-20% of projections from the cell surface and there are less connections to adjacent cells, 2= ~21-50% of projections from the cell surface and many of them are disrupted therefore there are less connections formed between the cells, 3= ~51-100% of projections from the cells and many cell connections between adjacent cells
Microvilli density	Relative distribution of microvilli on the cell surface; 1= sparse, 2=medium, 3= dense
Microvilli size	Relative length of microvilli on the cell surface; 1= short, 2= mixture of short and long microvilli, 3= long and thin microvilli
Blebbing density	Relative distribution of blebs/surface protrusions on the cell surface; 1= none, 2= sparse, 3= medium, 4= dense
Bleb size	Relative size of blebs/surface protrusions on the cell surface;1= none, 2=small, 3= medium, 4= large
Cell shape	Change in cell shape; 1= round, 2= oval, 3= flattened
Membrane bound secretions	Relative amount of secretions on the surface of the cell; 1= none, 2= few, 3= moderate, 4= abundant
Extracellular secretions	Relative amount of secretions on the extracellular space; 1= none, 2= few, 3= moderate, 4= abundant