Fig. 7
The role of the TGF-β1 receptor during cooperative invasion. a Comparison between the numbers of invaded cells in co-cultures (1:1 ratio) involving either receptor-positive MCF7 cells (MCF7_CC and MDA_CC) or MCF7 cells pretreated with the TGFβRI inhibitor (MCF7*_CC and MDA_CC(MCF7*). b Comparison between the numbers of invaded receptor-positive MCF7 cells (CC) and receptor-inhibited MCF7 cells (CCMCF7*) when in co-culture with MDA (1:1:2 ratio). c The number of invaded MDA cells when in co-culture with only receptor-positive MCF7 cells (CC; 1:1 ratio) versus a combination of receptor-positive and receptor-inhibited cells (CCMCF7*; 1:1:2 ratio). To assess the number of invaded cells in co-cultures, MCF7 was stained with DiO or DiD, and the number of MDA cells was calculated by subtracting the fluorescent MCF7 cells from the total number of cells stained with crystal violet. Y axis: Number of cells per field; error bars indicate SEM (n = 3). + refers to control co-culture (CC). + and +++ denote p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively