Research Article

Molecular Detection of EMT Markers in Circulating Tumor Cells from Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Potential Role in Clinical Practice

Figure 2

Representative micrographs showing the assessment of TGF-β1-mediated EMT in A549 cells. (a) The morphological analysis by differential interference contrast microscopy of the A549 cells exposed to TGF-β1 shows the acquisition of an elongated morphology with reduction of intercellular contacts compatible with EMT-like compared to unexposed A549 cells. (b) The immunofluorescence analysis reveals a dramatic reduction of EpCAM-positive cells (red fluorescence) in A549 cells exposed to TGF-β1 as compared to unexposed cells which retain the typical bordered staining. Furthermore, the A549 TGF-β1-treated cells showed a strong intracytoplasmic positivity for vimentin.
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