Fig. 6

Cholesterol depletion but not MMP inhibition reduces the size of the four breast cancer spheroids. T-47D, HCC1954, Hs-578T and BT-549 spheroids were grown for 3 days in ultra-low-attachment plates, then embedded (A–D, E–H, M, N) or not (I–L) in 2 mg/mL Matrigel supplemented or not with 1.25 mM mβCD (chol depletion) or 30 µM GM6001 (MMP inhibition) and allowed to grow for 8 days. A–D Representative phase contrast images of spheroids treated or not with mβCD or GM6001 at days 0 (D0) and 3 (D3). E–L Time-course quantification of total spheroid area increase of the four spheroids embedded (E–H) or not (I–L) in Matrigel and treated or not (circles) with mβCD (squares) or GM6001 (triangles). Data are expressed as percent increase of day 0. Graphs are representative of 1 experiment with 3–5 spheroids per condition (in total 5–18 spheroids from 2–4 independent experiments). M, N Quantification of total spheroid area increase upon chol depletion (M) or MMP inhibition (N) at day 3. Data are expressed as percent increase of day 3 untreated condition. Each data point represents 1 spheroid (in total 6–17 spheroids from 2–5 independent experiments). Wilcoxon signed-rank test