BITC treatment causes autophagy in breast cancer cells.

<p>(A) Representative transmission electron micrographs depicting ultrastructure of MDA-MB-231 cells following 12 h treatment with DMSO (control) or 2.5 µM BITC. Scale bar- 2 µm (10,000× direct magnification). Boxed area is amplified in right panel for control and BITC-treated cells for better visualization. Structures resembling autophagosomes in BITC-treated MDA-MB-231 cells are identified with red arrows. (B) Visualization of acidic vesicular organelles (yellow-orange) following acridine orange staining in DMSO-treated control and BITC-treated cells (6 h treatment except for MCF-7 cells that were treated for 9 h; objective magnification- 100×). (C) Fluorescence microscopy for LC3 localization in cells treated with DMSO or 5 µM BITC for 6 h (9 h for MCF-7 cells; objective magnification- 100×). Except for transmission electron microscopy, each experiment was repeated at least twice with similar results.