Axl-148b conjugate inhibits tumor cell movement. (A-D) Transwell migration assays were used to evaluate migration (A-B) or transendothelial migration through a HUVECs monolayer on top of a porous membrane (C-D) for the AXL+ 4175-TGL or MA-2 tumor cell lines left untreated (controls=ctrl) or treated with 400 nmol/L of axl, axl-148b, scr-148b or axl-scr aptamers. Alternatively, cells were transfected with 75 nmol/L of miR-148 precursor (pre-148b) or its negative control (pre-ctrl). Top: representative pictures of migrated cells. Bottom: result quantitations expressed as ratio of mean±SEM of the area covered by migrated versus plated tumor cells (A-B) or as mean±SEM of the area (pixels) covered by migrated cells (C-D). At least 2 independent experiments (with triplicates) were performed and representative results are shown. scr= scramble; ns = not significant; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001; SEM = Standard Error of Mean; scale bar = 50 µm (A-D).