Fig. 5

The effect of the hypoxic environment in 3D culture on the increased expression of the pro-angiogenic inducer VEGF-A in low-passage poorly-differentiated human MEC cells. a, b Western blotting of HIF1α gene expression in 2D versus 3D cultured cancer cells. 2D vs. 3D: **P < 0.01. c Representative microscopic images of HIF1α immunofluorescence staining in 2D versus 3D cultured cancer cells. d, e Western blotting of VEGF-A gene expression in 3D cultured cancer cells in the absence or presence of the HIF1α specific inhibitor 2-MeOE2. 2D vs. 3D: ***P < 0.001; 3D vs. 3D + 2-MeOE2: ***P < 0.001; 3D vs. 3D + 2-MeOE2: *P < 0.05. Three independent repeats, with each triplicates, were performed