Fig. 1

MDA induced a mesenchymal-like morphology in MCF7. a MCF7 cells were treated with MCF7_CM or MDA_CM and TGF-β1 (as positive control) for 72 h; cells were fixed with ethanol and stained with 0.2% crystal violet (as described in [25] and [26]). b MCF7 cells were cultured in direct contact with MDA cells for 72 h. Cells were stained with DiO and DiD, respectively, and fixed with paraformaldehyde 2% and then examined in bright field (BF; top row) and with fluorescence microscopy using FITC or TRITC filters (bottom row). Arrows indicate cell extensions