Fig. 3

Effect of CAF-derived IL-6 on Dox-induced apoptosis. BCA cell lines after incubation in the presence of CM with or without Dox (5 uM) for 48 h. A The apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 and B HCC70 after staining with the Annexin V-APC/PI and analyzing by flow cytometry. The representative dot plots of cell apoptosis and the percentage of cell apoptosis in the bar graph (means ± SD of three independent experiments) are shown, ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 compared to CM-free and Dox-free condition using one-way ANOVA, ^$$P < 0.01, ^$$$P < 0.001 compared to CM-free with Dox condition using one-way ANOVA, *P < 0.05 compared within the group using Student's t test. FSC-A, forward scatter area; SSC-A, side scatter area; UT, untreated cells; Dox, doxorubicin; BNF, breast normal fibroblast; CM, conditioned medium; IL-6R KD, IL-6R knocked down; rhIL-6, recombinant human IL-6