Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 24 pp 9877—9889
SOX2-high cancer cells exhibit an aggressive phenotype, with increases in stemness, proliferation and invasion, as well as higher metabolic activity and ATP production
Figure 8. Cell migration and cell invasion capacity are increased in SOX2-high MDA-MB-231 cells. MDA-MB-231 cells stably-transduced with the SOX2-GFP construct were subjected to FACS sorting to isolate the 5% highest GFP (GFP-high) and the 5% lowest GFP (GFP-low) subpopulations. (A) The migratory capacity of the two subpopulations was assessed using Transwell-24 wells with uncoated PET membranes. The cells were allowed to migrate across an 8-μm pore uncoated membrane for 16 hours. In the left panel, the photos show the migration for a representative experiment. In the right panel, the bar graph shows the quantification of the migration events. (B) The invasion capacity of the two subpopulations was assessed using Transwell-24 wells, with pre-coated extracellular matrix proteins (PET membrane). The cells were allowed to pass across an 8-μm pore pre-coated membrane for 24 hours. In the left panel, the photos show the invasion for a representative experiment. In the right panel, the bar graph shows the quantification of the migration. Experiments were performed at least 3 times independently. Results are shown as the mean ± SD: t-test, two tailed-test, *p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.