Selection of a MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Subpopulation with High Sensitivity to IL-1β: Characterization of and Correlation between Morphological and Molecular Changes Leading to Increased Invasiveness

Figure 1

Isolation of subpopulation MCF-7A3 by selection of CXCR4 and IL1-RI expression. MCF-7 cells were starved for 18 h in culture media containing 0.1% FBS then stimulated with IL-1β. After 48 h, cells were labeled with anti-CXCR4 antibody or with anti-IL1-RI antibody and analyzed by flow cytometry. (A) Higher expression of CXCR4 by cell subpopulations as selection marker. IL-1β-stimulated cells were selected by three rounds of sorting. Boxes indicate the subpopulation that was isolated in the first and last rounds. (B) Percentage of cells expressing CXCR4 in MCF-7pl and MCF-7A3 cells nonstimulates and IL-1β at 24 and 48 h. (C) Expression of receptor IL1-RI in MCF-7pl and MCF-7A3 cells in basal conditions and under the stimulus of IL-1β.