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. 2020 Nov 9;9(11):2442. doi: 10.3390/cells9112442

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Brain-tropic metastatic breast cancer cells show increased stem cell activity. (A) Representative pictures of monolayer (2D) and mammospheres (20× magnification). (B) Fold increase in the % of mammospheres’ formation efficiency (MFE) in brain-tropic cells (231.Br and 231.Br.HER2) compared with parental cells (231). Each dot in the graph represents an independent biological replicate. Both brain-tropic cells showed to have a significant increase in the stem cell activity. (C) Size of the mammospheres (spheres > 60 μm) at the end of the 5-day culture. (D) Fold change in cell viability and metabolic activity measured by the Presto blue assay, in brain-tropic cells (231.Br and 231.Br.HER2) compared with parental cells (231). Each dot in the graph represents an independent biological replicate. (E) Percentage of cells with the stem cell profile CD44+/CD24−, measured by flow cytometry. (F) Western blot for CD49f expression detecting two specific bands (A and B). (G) Ratio between the upper band (B)/lower band (A), using pixel density from each band. In all assays 4 to 6 biological replicas were performed. Statistical analysis * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.