Figure 1

Overexpression and activation of PC-PLC in human breast cancer cell lines. (a) Confocal laser scanning microscopy examinations (three-dimensional reconstruction images) of fixed human breast cancer cells (MCF-7, SKBr3, and MDA-MB-231) and non-tumoral immortalized mammary epithelial cells (MCF-10A) that were stained for intracellular PC-PLC detection (pseudo-color gray). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars, 20 μm. (b) Representative Western blot analyses (of three independent experiments) of cell lysates show PC-PLC and HER2 protein expression (actin was used as a quantitative loading control). (c) Relative PC-PLC activity (presented as mean ± standard deviation, n = 3) in cancer versus non-tumoral cells at early confluence. Student t test, *P = 0.007, **P < 0.003, ***P < 0.0001; one-way analysis of variance of tumoral versus non-tumoral cells, P < 0.0001. DAPI, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; PC-PLC, phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C.