Figure 3.

Lymphatic vessel permeability induced by tumour-derived fibroblasts. a) Schematic indicating the seeding procedure and the dextran diffusion assay used to generate the diffusion profile and to calculate the permeability of the vessel. b) Representative images of 70 kDa dextran diffusion in lymphatic monoculture (HLEC) at time 0 (top image) and at 15 min (bottom image). Diffusion profile at time 0 (black line) and at 15 min (gray line). c) Permeability values calculated for an empty lumen structure, lymphatic vessel monoculture (HLEC), co-culture with HOrF and co-cultures with TDF from all three patients. Comparisons were made to the lymphatic vessel monoculture. N = 4 lumens (technical replicates) each from at least 3 independent biological experiments. Bars represent average ± S.E.M. *p ≤ 0·05 (Welch corrected multiple t-tests).