Stromal cathepsin D expression promotes PNEC cell migration and proliferation.

<div><p>(A) Quantification of PNEC cell migration in 3D matrigel co-culture with cathepsin D-deficient (CTSD^−/−) or wild-type (CTSD^+/+) fibroblasts after 30h of co-culture; (B) PNEC cell proliferation and (C, D) elongation are increased in the presence of conditioned medium (CM) derived from CTSD^+/+ fibroblasts (C), compared to CM derived from CTSD^−/− fibroblasts (D).</p> <p>Experiments were performed three times, each time in quintuplicate.</p> <p>Representative results are shown.</p> <p>*p<0.05, ***p<0.001, Student t test.</p>