Fig. 7.

Suppression of MEST inhibited the ability of 4T1 cells to metastasize to the lung. a Lung metastasis by 4T1 control-shRNA or 4T1 MEST-shRNA cells. The total numbers of lung metastatic nodules from each mouse harboring 4T1 tumors expressing control-shRNA or MEST-shRNA were counted using a dissection scope (n = 6 mice per group). P < 0.05, ANOVA. b Representative images of the lungs from the mice harboring 4T1 control-shRNA or 4T1 MEST-shRNA cells for 30 days after implantation of mouse mammary fat pads of mice. c Representative H&E staining in the sections of the lungs from Fig. 7b. N normal lung tissue, M metastatic nodule. d Western blot analysis of MEST, phospho-STAT3, STAT3, and Twist-1 in tumor cells recovered from the lungs of individual mice expressing either 4T1 control-shRNA or 4T1 MEST-shRNA. β-actin was used as a loading control. e Quantitative RT-PCR of Twist-1 in tumor cells recovered from the lungs of individual mice expressing either 4T1 control-shRNA or 4T1 MEST-shRNA. 18S mRNA was used as a loading control. P < 0.001, t-test