Morphologic changes associated with the modulation of CD146 expression.

<p>A: Morphology of MCF-7 cells stably transfected with CD146 and of CAL51 cells stably transfected with a shRNA against CD146 compared to mock transfected cells. The diminution in cell-cell contacts is associated with CD146 expression (magnification×40). B: Proportion of scattered colonies in mocked-transfected and CD146-modulated MCF-7 and CAL51 cells. Cells expressing high levels of CD146 produce a higher number of scattered colonies than their CD146 low or negative counterparts. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043752#s2" target="_blank">Results</a> expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean of at least six independent experiments were analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test.