Fig. 7

Effects of BAZ1B silencing in antiestrogen-resistant BC cells. RT-qPCR analysis of BAZ1B mRNA level following BAZ1B silencing in tamoxifen (MCF7 TAM-R; A)- and fulvestrant/ICI (MCF7 ICI-R; B)-resistant BC cells. RT-qPCR results represent mean ± SD of triplicate determinations from a representative experiment after 72 h of silencing. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (***p ≤ 0.005) to CTRL. C Heatmap showing the Normalized Enrichment Score (NES) of selected functions involving gene expression changes in AE-sensitive (MCF7), tamoxifen (MCF7 TAM-R)- or fulvestrant/ICI (MCF7 ICI-R)-resistant BC cells following BAZ1B silencing. Key functions are highlighted in red. Cell proliferation rate assessed by MTT assay in tamoxifen (MCF7 TAM-R; D)- and fulvestrant/ICI (MCF7 ICI-R; G)-resistant BC cell lines following BAZ1B silencing and treatment with ICI (100 nM) or tamoxifen (TAM; 100 nM). Caspase 3/7 activity assay performed in the same experimental condition mentioned above in tamoxifen (MCF7 TAM-R; E)- and fulvestrant/ICI (MCF7 ICI-R; H)-resistant BC cells. All data are analyzed respect to the scramble (Silencer Select Negative Control: CTRL). Data are presented as the mean ± SD of multiple determinations from a representative experiment performed six independent replicates after 72 h of silencing. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (*p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.005) to CTRL. Western blot and relative densitometry showing ERα protein level in tamoxifen (MCF7 TAM-R; F)- and fulvestrant/ICI (MCF7 ICI-R; I)-resistant BC cells following BAZ1B silencing. β-actin (ACTB) was used as loading control. Images were processed with ImageJ software (https://imagej.net) for densitometry readings