Skip to main content
. 2021 Sep 10;11:716055. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.716055

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Fibroblast-derived paracrine factors significantly promote multiple cancer-initiating cell (CIC) features in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. (A) Invasion capacity of the CRC cell line KM12C (KM12C) after culturing in conditioned media (CM) of two human fibroblast cell lines MRC-5 and WS1 for 48 hours; control, KM12C-CM. (B) Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis for the gene expression levels of Twist1 in KM12C after culturing in MRC-5- or WS1-CM; control, KM12C-CM. (C) Western blot for the β-catenin levels in KM12C after culturing in MRC-5- or WS1-CM; control, KM12C-CM. (D) Immunofluorescent (IF) staining for β-catenin subcellular localization (green fluorescence) in KM12C after culturing in MRC-5- or WS1-CM; control, KM12C-CM; arrows indicate nuclear β-catenin. Hoechst 33342 was used to detect cell nuclei (blue fluorescence); scale bar, 10 μm. (E) Sphere formation capacity of KM12C after culturing in MRC-5- or WS1-CM for 72 hours; control, KM12C-CM. Quantitative results (top panel) and representative images (bottom panel) are shown; scale bar, 30 μm. (F) Drug resistance capacity of KM12C to cisplatin (25 µM) after pretreatment with either MRC-5- or WS1-CM (control, KM12C-CM) for 24 hours. Cell viability was assessed 48 hours after drug treatment. All results are shown as mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 and ** compared to control.