Fig. 5

Leptin knockdown abrogates pro-metastatic effect of obASCs in TNBC PDX model. a Evaluation of tumor growth over time after implantation demonstrates that there is no difference in tumor growth of TU-BcX-2 K1 grown alone or in the presence of shCtrl obASCs or shLep obASCs. b Evaluation of metastases demonstrates that shCtrl obASCs promote metastasis of TNBC PDX model compared to both control and shLep tumors. c Evaluation of circulating tumor cells reveals that there is an increased percentage of HLA+ circulating tumor cells when tumors are grown with shCtrl obASCs compared to control and shLep obASC groups. Additional evaluation of cancer stem cell markers on circulating tumor cells reveals a trend of an increased percentage of circulating cancer stem-like cells in the shCtrl obASCs group of TNBC PDX compared to control and shLep obASCs. Mean values are represented (n = 5 mice/group) Bars, ± SEM. *p < 0.05