Mesothelial-derived ECM influences cancer cell motility and response to the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel.

<p>(a) Time lapse video microscopy was performed of SKOV3 cells plated on Met5A derived ECM derived from cells expressing either control shRNA (Met5A matrix) or SPARC shRNA (Met5A matrix—SPARC). Images were collected for 10 hours and cell centroids were tracked using Volocity software. Circles represent tracking distance and velocity of each individual cell and black bars represent the mean ±S.E.M. (b) SKOV3 cells were plated on either plastic or Met5A derived ECM derived from cells expressing either control shRNA or SPARC shRNA (- SPARC). Cells were treated with 0.003 μM, 0.03 μM, or 0.3 μM paclitaxel for 30 hours prior to staining with FITC-Annexin V and propidium iodide before analyzing by flow cytometry. Three independent experiments were performed and the results are represented by percent of cells in early apoptosis (Annexin V +, PI -). ** represents significance of p<0.01 and *** represents significance of p<0.001.