Figure 1

AMSCs enhance malignancy of colon cancer cells in a transwell co-culture model. Colon cancer cells were co-cultured with AMSCs using a transwell model. The malignancy of HCT116 cells was ascertained by examining the expression of EMT- and stemness-related genes, and capacities of proliferation, invasion and colony formation. (A) The transcripts of EMT-associated genes in HCT116 treated with indicated conditions were determined by a qRT-PCR assay. (B) The transcripts of stemness-related genes in HCT116 treated with indicated conditions were determined by a qRT-PCR assay. (C) The proliferation of HCT116 cells cultured in the indicated conditions was analyzed by an MTT assay. (D) Immunofluorescent analysis of E-cadherin and vimentin proteins in HCT116 cells cultured in regular medium or in the co-culture system as described in (A). The scale bar represents 20 μm. (E) The capacity of invasion of HCT116 cells in the indicated conditions was detected by a transwell invasive assay. Left panel: representative images of indicated condition; right panel: numbers of invaded cells in indicated conditions. (F) The capacity of colony formation of HCT116 cells in the indicated conditions was detected by a sphere formation assay. Left panel: representative images of indicated condition; right panel: numbers of sphered cells in indicated conditions. Data represented as mean ± SD from three independent triplicated experiments (N = 9). Compared to the control, *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.